Winter Holiday Gone Wrong
by The Lonely Serenade
Summary: She just wished to experience an enjoyable winter holiday. But her wish didn't turn out just right when she had to spend it with six hormonal boys. Now, it was up to Mikan to settle this whole mess with her wit and wisdom. NaMi.
1. The Deal and My New Home

**Winter Holiday Gone Wrong**

_Written by The Lonely Serenade_

**Disclaimer : Do not own Gakuen Alice**.

Day 1—The Deal, My New Home

Mikan Sakura tightened her grip on her bag, her eyes crackled in boredom and utmost tiredness. She tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for something – or rather someone – to open the door before she froze to death. She sighed again for the umpteenth time that day, and wondered to herself how she ended up here in the first place. Ah—yes, that's right. It was thanks to her _kind _brother. A sarcastic remark indeed.

She was forced to stay here with his so-called-friends, who were 'extremely funny and utterly hot'. That's what he said. She could only shake her head in desperation to escape from his evil, diabolical plans of matchmaking.

Damn Ryuuki and his cunning mind.

Here she was, standing like a dope in front of a big mansion, well; at least, she thought it was _supposed_ to be a mansion. The place looked more like a palace to her. And now she was donned with yet another conclusion. Ryuki's friends could be rich snots who liked to toy with girls. Oh gee, she was more than _happy_. She was _ecstatic_!

_Whoooosh. _The strong wind blew her hair as it flew upward and slapped her directly on the face. _  
_

_Well sorry for being sarcastic all the time! You don't have to rub it on my face and add some winds! _She protested silently. _  
_

Curse winter and its effect on people, curse Ryuki for forcing her to go here, and curse anyone who lived in this mansion!

Ryuki was somehow able to trick her and with that he used her, yes, he used her as a replacement. Want to know how it started? Let's looked at the flashback, shall we?

**Flashback**

Mikan chirped happily as she skipped into the living room, tangling her hair band together. Today, school had ended and finally, it's winter holiday! She hummed cheerfully, leaning on the sofa, and brushed the dirt off of it as she plopped herself onto it. She released a contented sigh.

Final exams could be annoying; but hey, look on the bright side. She's free to do anything she wanted. She smirked. _Oh yeah._

Mikan heard a cough and a sniffle from behind her and as she turned her head, she gasped dramatically.

There was her twin brother, Ryuuki Sakura with a flushing face and his nose dripping with yucky-liquid. His lips were dry and she knew perfectly that he was suffering. With a throaty and crackled voice he said, "Dear-dear, Mikan, I envy you for being so cheerful in this horrible day."

Mikan snorted and took the remote control for the TV, clicking it while searching through random channels, completely ignoring her twin brother. She heard the sofa besides her being squeezed, meaning Ryuki had taken the spot and rested near her. She finally found a perfect channel to watch, but just like a perfect attempt to ruin her mood, Ryuki snatched the remote control from her hand, with him receiving a cold glare from his sister.

"What do you want, psycho?" Mikan spat while folding her arms in front of her chest.

Ryuki grinned, "Animal freak, still watching the same boring program again, I see."

Mikan glared harder, "That's none of your business."

Ryuki chuckled bitterly, his eyes twinkling with evilness, "Now now, Mikan, I just wanted to inform you about some joyful news." Mikan raised her eyebrows suspiciously, and tried to grab the remote back. But unfortunately, her kind brother wouldn't let her.

"What're you up to now, Ryuki?" She frowned.

"Eh? Nothing, I just wanted you to replace me for a certain event," he said innocently; and she was sure he was nothing more than a five year old trapped in a seventeen year old teenager's body.

Mikan crinkled her brows before she took one of the candies on the table desk and plopped them to her mouth. She grinned. _Strawberries._

Ryuki smirked inwardly when he noticed that his plans worked perfectly. His sister was an active person, and she loved to participate in events, though what she's going to participate in was certainly not an event, well—_kind of_.

"So, are you going to help me?" His tone pleading, "Are you going to replace me in this event? As you can see, I'm so fed up now and I can't even move a muscle, how can you ignore your brother's wish under this condition, right?"

Mikan thought for a while, and then nodded. "Well, I need to know what kind of event it is, that's my condition."

Ryuki laughed and shook his head in amusement, "Don't worry. You're just going to participate on some Christmas event that me and my friends worked on. So, are you in?"

This statement made her ears perk up in excitement. Did he just say a Christmas event?

Like he was reading her mind, he answered smoothly, "Yes, Mikan, it's a Christmas event."

"Really?" Her tone changed drastically, but as she noticed this she cleared her throat and fidgeted her gaze from her brother's. She could already feel his smirking face without looking directly, and that smug aura he gave didn't help a bit. What a cocky and sadistic brother she had.

"Well, anyway, I'll give you the details later, but for now, just pack your clothes first, you need to sleep early because you need to arrive at the place at 7:00 AM, oh—and before I forget, you need to stay there _until holiday's over_, so you get what I mean, you're going to spend your holiday with them."

Mikan's eyes widened, and she almost gulped her half-eaten candy thoroughly.

"What? I only have to participate on a single Christmas event, right? Why bother spending the holidays with your friends?" Mikan screeched loudly, eyes glaring at Ryuki. "And we're going to spend winter holiday with Mom and Dad! They won't allow me to do that!"

Ryuki sighed. He was _expecting _Mikan to explode at him, but damn. She had one hell of a high-pitched voice. "Calm down, Mom and Dad are going to Paris to celebrate their 35th anniversary, and they'll tend to do that creepy stuff again. You know. . . _That_." He answered as he slightly flinched when he imagined the image of his parents doing some—_okay, bad thoughts_, and bad thoughts brought out misfortune, right?

"But are you sure they'll let me go? And what about you?"

Ryuuki grinned and took some tissues to blow his nose. "Don't worry, I already asked for their permission, and they even answered me in a sing-song voice. Plus, I'll go there as soon as possible, well . . . after I get rid of this bothersome fever though," he replied while sniffling his now red nose.

_Yeah right. _

Mikan shrugged, and then beamed him a smile. "Thanks Ryuuki! I bet this year's holiday will be a blast! Never knew you were this kind, eh? I'm sure I'll enjoy it!"

Ryuki smiled mischievously as soon as his twin sister turned her back and went upstairs to get some sleep. He released a breath and mused in mind. _You're going to enjoy this Mikan, and I bet on it._

He took his phone that was hidden under the pillows, and it seemed that their earlier talk was heard because on the phone, 'loud speaker' was written clearly. He neared the speaker to his mouth, and spoke in a throaty voice, "_Hotaru, our plan to get Mikan a boyfriend worked smoothly."_

**End of Flashback**

She rang the doorbell again for the thousandth time that day, and nobody was even answering through the intercom.

Uhm, hello? It was the beginning of November, and holy moly, she was certain that she's going to be a defrosted human even before she was able to enjoy her winter holiday! She groaned in frustration, and scrunched the small piece of paper that was written by her brother to her.

_Dear Mikan,_

_I __**forgot**_ _to tell you, that all my friends are __**boys**__, but rest assured, I __**guarantee**_ _that they won't be able to make a single move on you. And unfortunately, the event will be held exactly on the day of Christmas, so you'll have a lot of free days without preparing a single thing. I'm sorry, but this is __**sudden**__, and I can't go with you because my __**girlfriend**_ _called me and __**begged**_ _me to spend the holiday with her. Ah, and I need to inform you this, they're all fun to hang out with, and not to mention hot. Don't forget to tell me all the juicy details ok? _

_Love, Ryuki_

Mikan ripped the note apart and spat on it like a hyena. She gritted her teeth and looked at the watch. It was freaking 8:30 AM, and she had waited in front of this mansion for like more than one hour! She bet on her dear life that this was part of her brother's and Hotaru's plan to set her up on boys. Plus, this certainly and obviously was not a sudden thing. They must've planned this!

Besides, her brother didn't have a freaking girlfriend, and even if he had one, she wouldn't beg to him like _that_!

Mikan was the sweetheart of her school, no doubt about it. While Ryuki was busy searching for hot girlfriends, our heroine was too busy to even think about boys. Ryuuki and Hotaru, Mikan's best friend, love to pair her up on blind dates. Mikan hated all of them because . . . _well_, couldn't they just get it that she's not up to dating? She felt that it's more than enough to settle with friendship. But some persistent love sick fools were just too . . . ehm, _persistent_.

She rang the bell again, and finally—after waiting for almost a century, a grouchy, low voice on the intercom made a sound.

_What the freaking hell are you doing in the early blinding morning?_ The voice said.

Mikan rolled her eyes, and then barked at it. "Listen here, whoever I'm talking to, I've rang the bell for a _thousand_ times, and I'm about to be a defrosted human soon. So would you mind opening the gate for me?"

_Tch, girls and their period. _

Mikan twitched at that statement, and then punched the intercom until the poor machine broke.

Good thing, the gate finally opened, and she hurriedly took all her belongings, and dashed into whoever this mansion belonged to. After walking for several hundred meters (Mikan didn't even bother to look at the scenery wrapped around her), she saw a tall man with messy raven hair and enchanting crimson eyes skimming through the garden with boredom. But then, as his gaze landed on Mikan, his bored crimson eyes twinkling maliciously, he observed her up and down like he had found his prey, but of course, our dense brunette didn't notice this, not even a bit.

Their gazes met, his amused crimson eyes met her furious hazel ones, and then after the silence of a staring contest, the lad started a conversation, "Are you Ryuuki's twin?"

Mikan scoffed, and put her things roughly on the ground before tapping her foot again. "Don't ask the obvious, you jerk."

Natsume was entertained, really. But he was slightly shocked at her answer.

Usually girls would fling themselves, or drool, or maybe even faint at the sight of him. But this girl in front of him didn't seem to notice his appearance, not even the slightest hint of attraction were tainted on her sparkling hazel eyes. _Interesting._

Natsume Hyuuga liked, no—_loved_ challenges.

He smirked hotly at the gaping girl, and then walked closely toward her. "You're different from the girls I've ever met before, and honestly, I prefer girls like you better," he stated seductively on her ear.

Mikan twitched.

She cleared her throat, her eyes wouldn't stop staring. She was clearly angry and nervous at the same time. Angry that the man in front of him was playing with her, nervous because he was similar to the reincarnation of an Adonis and someone she knew.

_Who is he? _

His silky raven hair was messy, it was shimmering from the faded sunlight, his crimson orbs were enchanting, and no one could stare at those mysterious orbs without getting lost in them.

Well, of course, her pride made her blind of the fact that his white shirt clutched his body perfectly, intentionally showing his muscles.

She was mentally punching her mind; thinking how silly it was to admire the jerk that made her feet go stiff from all the waiting, and yet she still complimented his looks. Though he didn't know this.

Natsume could say the same thing about her.

Mikan's silky, chocolate brown hair was tied in ponytails, but some curls of locks framed her perfect face; and he had the urge to slip his hands through her hair, sniffing their scent. Because her hair was tied, she showed her bare neck to him, and well he was entrapped—with her sparkling hazel eyes of course, not _her_.

"Don't play with me you jerk, I don't take playboys," she growled.

He snickered, and then from behind, the door opened and a blonde boy came out, ruffling his hair while yawning heavily. "What's with the ruckus in the morning Natsume?" he asked.

Mikan observed his face. Ah . . . azure eyes. She compared the raven haired boy with the blonde one. Their faces didn't match, though she was sure that the both of them were handsome. She snorted inwardly, since when did she care about boys and their looks anyway?

Ruka's azure eyes traveled and landed on Mikan. A blush crept onto his cheeks as he saw the girl standing in front of him.

_Feh_. Natsume didn't like the way Ruka looked at Mikan, but he shrugged the thought away.

"Ruka, where are the others?"

Ruka turned his head to meet Natsume and then slapped his forehead. "They're still asleep, though I've tried to wake them up," Ruka was snorting loudly here,"—Koko even had his head spilled with water but it's useless . . . he slept like a _log_."

The Natsume man nodded and then proceeded to leaning on the door, smirking in all his glory, "Oi, little girl, come in, don't you feel cold?"

Mikan glared at him, before flashing a very, very sweet smile at Ruka, and then stepped onto the floor carefully. She noticed Natsume's foot and she smirked evilly while staring at him.

Natsume thought that maybe Mikan finally realized his charm, and was checking him out. But how wrong he was because she took a deep breath, and stomped on his foot with her high-heeled boot.

"Shit! What the hell?"

Mikan had a smug grin on her face, and then winked while giggling childishly. "That's for not answering the door bell earlier," he heard her mutter.

Ruka gaped, and then patted Natsume's shoulder while chuckling amusedly. "Ryuki's right, that girl is entertaining."

Natsume glimpsed at his best friend before he growled in pain, "And she has one heck of a foot."

Mikan entered the mansion gracefully, with Natsume and Ruka trailing behind her. From the stairs, she heard bickering, arguing and some chuckling sounds mixed together. She narrowed her eyebrows suspiciously, and looked at the three people.

"You stupid ass! I told you to wake me up! Ryuki's sister was coming and damn it, my hair is a mess, and look how damp it is!" Koko argued as Kitsuneme pulled his hair and snickered at him.

"And it seems that the princess has come," Tsubasa announced while grinning at the drooling Tono beside him.

"Oh shit!"

Mikan smiled at them, before sitting down at the sofa and sighing. She looked up to see that all eyes were observing her. Like the dense girl she was, she beamed them a smile, and cracked up with charming laughter. "Nice to meet you guys, the name is Mikan Sakura, and I'm Ryuuki's twin sister!" she chirped happily.

Tono whistled and bent his head slightly, showing her a charming smile.

Mikan rolled her eyes before pointing her index finger at him and declared, "You must be Akira Tonoichi, that idiotic brother of mine has warned me that you're a certificated playboy."

Tono flinched before muttering curses under his breath, "Damn that brat, what load of crap has he told his sister about me?"

Koko laughed along with Kitsuneme who was clutching his tummy at Tono's reaction; it was priceless.

Ruka chuckled lightly before turning his gaze back at his best friend. Natsume was beyond amused now, and amused would be an understatement. An amused Natsume could be dangerous for all we know.

"Yup, you got that correct Mikan-chan. That guy has major girls issue, and by the way, I'm Tsubasa Andou. You can call me Tsubasa-senpai if you want!" he introduced while showing Mikan a cheeky smile as he pointed at Tono.

Koko and Kitsuneme moved to the front, and then grinned at the sight of Mikan."I'm Koko, and this guy is my twin, Kitsuneme. By the looks of your face, are you a prankster too?"

Mikan gasped and then nodded her head up and down before jumping up and down excitedly like a child. "Yes! Ryuuki never told me that he has friends who love to do pranks, damn! Where were you guys up until now?" She high-fived them, and smirked naughtily. At least she had some friends that were like her.

"My name is Ruka Nogi, nice to meet you Sakura-san." Ruka flashed her a warm smile. Mikan nodded and then directed her gaze to the lad beside him.

"Natsume Hyuuga," He simply answered. "Pleasure to meet you, _brownie_."

Mikan shook her head in disbelief before walking towards Natsume and pinched his cheeks.

"What the hell are you doing with my cheeks, little girl?" He groaned at the itching pain he got thanks to her.

"Your expression was not suited to greet a person, and it's a nice, wonderful morning today! Shouldn't you smile and be grateful? You're stupid."

Natsume scoffed at her stupid reason, but then something wrong happened.

It was really, really wrong.

A smirk curved on his lips, plastering on his handsome face as his hand made its way to tilt up her chin.

"Fine then." And just like that, he kissed Mikan Sakura's cheek, a girl he barely knew for about ten minutes—that's what everybody thought with their jaw dropping to the ground.

Correction, Natsume Hyuuga just licked Mikan Sakura's cheek seductively, a girl he barely knew for ten minutes, before he pulled away to see the face of Mikan gaping.

"That. Is my greeting for you," He continued.

Mikan fumed up at him, and blushed furiously. She felt a vein pop on her forehead, and took a deep breath, several at a time. _Mikan, breathe, breathe, the guy was just toying with you, so snap out of it!_

Natsume expected her to bite his head off, but frowned when he heard nothing. The girl was trying to piss him of. A scowl made its way on his face, and Mikan noticed this. She congratulated herself by flashing a smirk, with her winning the match with this Natsume-guy.

She forced a smile towards them, before bowing her head in a polite way.

"Please take care of me from now on!"


	2. A Devil or A Pervert?

**Winter Holiday Gone Wrong**

_Written by The Lonely Serenade_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice or any of its characters; it belongs to Higuchi Tachibana-sensei!**

A/N: Might want to read over because this chapter has been edited, and I revised some parts, sorry! :P

Day 2 – A Devil or a Pervert?

It was an early morning in Tokyo, with the sun shining brightly, birds chirping happily, this morning couldn't get any better. Mikan squirmed on her bed, whilst the so called bed sheet had gone everywhere, and her hair was still messy, but cute in a way. The light shaded her face, and she stirred lightly. Mikan slowly opened her eyelids, revealing a pair of dazed hazel orbs. She, still half awake, reached out her arm slowly to get the clock which was on the nearest bed table. She looked at it and smiled in relief.

It was still 8:00 AM, it was bright; and that was for sure, but she didn't care, she just wanted to sleep, sleep, and sleep. _Purrrrfect. _

Mikan yawned and snuggled up to her bed, her head plopped on the fluffy and soft pillow, a contented sigh escaped from her lips. _What bliss_.

She shivered unconsciously because of the temperature, absolutely cold but she betted the temperature outside was even colder. She pulled the blanket as she covered her whole body, protecting her and the now not so dark room from the sunlight.

When she was about to continue her journey to the dreamland, the door was busted open, without even signalling a knock on the door.

Mikan's ears flinched at the steps, and tightened her grip on the bed purposely. She felt the bed squeezed, and ignored whoever it was. One thing was on her mind, whoever _he_ was; she was going to kill him later. How did she know that it was a _he_ in the first place? Ah yes . . . Because she was the only girl in this stupid mansion.

She was alone. Alone, I tell you.

The lad glanced at the body that was covering, or rather hiding underneath the blanket, and smirked evilly. In a deep husky voice, he mumbled near the person's right ear, which was popping out from the blanket in its uncovered state.

"Wake up, little girl."

The brunette girl twitched at the nickname he had given her, and muttered curses under her breath. She knew that voice; it was absolutely familiar.

It was the voice of Hyuuga. The perverted jerk, Hyuuga.

Yes, she decided to stick on that name because she noted to herself that this boy was certainly a pervert, with him kissing her cheek and _licking_ it seductively, and it bloody happened on the first day they met! What'd he do if she stayed here for a long time? She felt shivers running down her spine as she thought about it.

Natsume knew that Mikan was awake, he knew it from the way she breathed, and he knew the fact that she was just pretending to be asleep, and hell . . . It was amusing. Funny, Natsume Hyuuga; entertained by petty little things.

Natsume tugged on her blanket roughly; now using his cold voice to wake her up, "Little girl, don't waste my time and wake up already will you?"

Mikan bit her lower lip hard. Damn he was so annoying, what did he want in the early morning? She just wanted to sleep, but here he was, bugging her to wake up and saying that it was a waste of his time? It was a waste of _her_ time! And for your information, every girl has their own rights to a beauty sleep.

Maybe she should have made a law for that.

Mikan groaned tiredly when Natsume pulled the blanket off of her body, but she, of course pulled it too. But since dear, dear God made our Natsume ( insert fan squeals here ) a man, and a strong one too, he pulled up the blanket roughly without breaking a sweat. Mikan glared daggers at him, her stubborn side had awoken and she refused to wake up by burying her head in the pillow harder.

"Five more minutes, and I'll wake up," she mumbled.

Natsume snorted at her childish behavior. "Yeah right. Why should I wait for you, _princess_?" he stated in a mocking tone. Mikan didn't do anything and she didn't even react to his mocking. He raised one of his brows, and then growled silently when he heard Mikan's steady breaths and soft snores.

She was sleeping again!

"Oi, little girl, I said wake up! Don't make this harder you _stupid woman_!"

Nevertheless, Natsume didn't get any reply whatsoever. He was frustrated.

Why did he have to wake this girl who was even harder to handle than his friends? He took a glimpse at her room as he noticed her girly stuff. He made a disgusted expression at them, starting from her cute teddy bears, her floral pattern bed, her pink curtain, her peach colored walls; everything managed to blind his sight.

But then, his eyes landed on the vase which was placed on her study table. He walked to it, and his eyes travelled down to see if the thing he was searching for was there.

_Bingo._ Natsume, you're a genius.

He smirked when he saw the liquid called 'water' in the vase, and he was sure that it was cold since it was affected by the room's temperature. _Little girl is going to get her early birthday present from me. _

Natsume walked towards her, his steps light and as his hands reached out above her pretty, angelic face, he tipped the vase slowly. One droplet fell on her face.

Mikan felt something wet and cold fall on her face, and she touched it by instinct. She noticed that this was water, and when her eyes fluttered open, her eyes became as wide as a saucer when she saw Natsume smirk at her, with the vase above her face. _Uh-oh. _

Splash.

Mikan shrieked at the feeling of the cold water against her skin, and she couldn't help but trip on the floor as she went out of the bed to get Natsume. The water made it slippery and it was a good thing the blanket was pulled with her, so when she fell, the feeling of the hard floor didn't really make her butt hurt.

But it wasn't only the blanket that Mikan managed to pull.

It seemed that our favorite, raven haired lad was tangled up beside her, ah no, scratch that—he was underneath her.

Mikan groaned and merely shook her head to splash the water out of her face. She didn't know that she was giving the boy under her a hard time. And what I meant by hard, it was . . . _hard._

Natsume watched as Mikan shook her head. The way her brunette hair swayed, her locks of hair shimmered by the sunlight, and the dampness of her hair made it shine even more, not to forget the droplets of water that were falling one by one, trailing her pale shoulder and to her chest.

He really had the urge to slip his hand among those strands of hair.

Natsume felt himself beating inside, her face looked so tempting, and with her on top of him, it seemed that they're doing you know what. The position was too risky.

His legs were trapped by hers, and her chest was only an inch away from his own. He could feel her breathing, and damn . . . It really gave him a hard time, but at the same moment, it was enjoyable.

_Plan backfired_, he thought.

Mikan cringed at her legs. Why are my legs parted?

She looked down and gasped as she saw Natsume smirking at her, his hands trailed up to her butt and her chest. Mikan froze and was about to slap him, before the dreadful thing happened.

_Squeeze. _

Mikan gaped.

Her brain was not functioning and it was in a current state of rebooting.

_Mikan, this is all a nightmare. _

"Oh no, it isn't."

Her face turned red in a second as Natsume pushed her slowly. Her body became stiff, and then it shook uncontrollably. Her teeth gritting in angriness, steam came out of her ears and nose, with her position still like that; she looked like a buffalo ready to hit the target.

Natsume himself didn't understand what he had done to her; it was an _accident._

He stifled a laugh inside his mind. He didn't even know what he was doing, and this was the first time he actually did that to a girl. Well, half of his mind thought that it was an accident, but half of it was expecting it to happen. Though he didn't regret it.

The first thing that flooded Mikan's mind was the fact that she was so damn unlucky today; it was hell alright, the beginning of hell day.

First, she was awakened by the pervert in front of her, telling her to get up and to not waste his time. Second, he just poured the damn cold water on her face; it was freezing and he should know about it! Third, he just freaking squeezed her breast, and her butt! No way in hell was she going to let this go, he was sexually harassing her! She could sue him for that! God, what had she done to deserve this madness over a single morning; it was karma! Karma!

"You—" Mikan clenched her fists.

Natsume threw her an I-don't-care look, shrugged and smirked. "What? I'm hot?"

"Damn you pervert! Get out of my freaking room!" she screeched loudly.

He winced a little, but then he walked towards the door and turned his head while showing her a cocky smirk, "I'll be waiting downstairs, little girl." He said smoothly, and then closed the door.

Right after he closed the door, Mikan growled again, this time she even threw her pillow at the door, too bad the target was not there.

She cried animatedly, and cursed fate for being such a bitch and cursed Natsume Hyuuga for coming into her life! Now she declared,_ I, Mikan Sakura, not your average 16 year old teenager any more, has been sexually harassed by a stranger she has known for not even 2 days,_ and now—her dream of marrying a handsome husband, giving birth to two children, a boy and a girl, plus a cute little dog named puppy-chan had been ruined.

It was blown like dust, just because she had lost her virginity.

Snort.

_Yeah right—she's just being way too dramatic._

Tsubasa tapped his fingers impatiently on the table, a deep scowl was written on his face, and his feet were ragging around.

He was pissed.

Tono, who was sitting beside him, simply laid his head on the table and closed his eyes, still sleepy as he snoozed again to dreamland. Koko and Kitsuneme were talking animatedly about the latest video games, but sometimes they'd suddenly cheer loudly, waking Tono from his deep slumber who glared at the both of them who were laughing sheepishly.

Ruka stroked his bunny's fur gently, his eyes travelled on the stairs, still thinking and waiting for the arrival of certain people. He sighed and shook his head on the contrary. He was sure that Natsume was fighting with Mikan again; her screeching could be heard throughout the whole mansion.

There were light steps on the stairs, and Ruka turned his head almost suddenly; seeing that it was Natsume, he breathed in relief as he saw him get down. But then, the girl he was expecting was not there, there was no sign of her presence, not at all. Tsubasa, who saw Natsume walking towards them, immediately smiled in happiness, and slapped his stomach while grinning widely.

"Finally, we can have breakfast and hell I was hungry!" he exclaimed while resting his head on his hands.

"Hey, where's Sakura-san?" Ruka asked.

Natsume glimpsed at his best friend, and then pulled out a chair and gulped down his orange juice which was already prepared for him. "Don't know, she's changing, probably," he answered with boredom.

Tsubasa sighed, his happy expression was changed yet again.

He banged his face on the table, and clutched his stomach tightly while mumbling, "I should have eaten yesterday, but all that was left were stupid mushrooms and yuck, they're disgusting; I'd rather eat trash than those horrible fungi!"

"What's with you and mushrooms again?" Koko asked; eyes twinkling.

"If I'm not wrong, when you eat those, you'll get red spotson your skin, just like a chicken pox huh?" Tono mocked.

"Geez—thanks for stating the obvious Dr. Watson, case closed," he sarcastically said.

"Dr. Watson? It's supposed to be Sherlock you dumb-dumb!" Tono slapped Tsubasa's head while laughing, with Koko and Kitsuneme trailing after him. Ruka chuckled a bit and Natsume rolled his eyes as he mouthed something like 'idiot'.

And then, not long after that, you could hear other footsteps, uhh —_stomps_ from the stairs. All heads turned to the source of the stomping, and all of them had their jaws dropped to the ground. Natsume, who was the first to snap out of their dreamland smirked cockily before adjusting his sitting position and ordered her arrogantly, "What took you so long, little girl?"

Mikan puffed her cheeks in annoyance, and then walked towards her seat, which was beside Ruka. All of them were still staring at Mikan and damn it made her nervous as hell. "What the heck are you guys staring at me for? Not you too, Ruka!" she demanded while twitching at their actions.

All of them laughed throatily before nervously continuing God-knows-what they were doing. Mikan raised her eyebrows at them, and shrugged at them again, _boys are unpredictable and hard to explain_, she mused in her mind.

Natsume was secretly staring at her thighs and slowly made his way to her legs all the time from the corner of his eyes, but well—not only Natsume though, Tsubasa, Tono, and even Ruka were secretly glimpsing at them too, only Koko and Kitsuneme were able to resist the temptation by saying some sacred spell or charm or whatever that was.

Mikan coughed again to break the tension and she felt that the boys were staring at her legs so she covered it with the table's sheet as she sat down beside Ruka and flashed him an awkward smile.

"So . . . What're you doing calling me in this early morning, moreover, why did you call that pervert to wake me up?" she said giving Natsume a cold stare who was yawning while watching them.

"Sorry, I'm too busy waking Koko, Kitsuneme, Tono, and Tsubasa; besides, you need to make breakfast for us," Ruka explained while giving her a smile; sunny smile to be precise.

Mikan froze in her seat. "Uhh, about that, umm, I—"

The boys frowned.

"You can't cook, can you?"

Mikan gulped and bit her lips. "W-What are you talking about Hyuuga? Of course I can!"

Natsume scoffed. "Prove it then."

She was simply annoyed by his act, who did he think he was? He wasn't even a popular super star yet he had an ego that was bigger than them. _Cocky bastard_.

Her eyes lingered on the ground and then the sight of Natsume's big foot made her grin in evilness. The bastard was so going to get it from her.

She prepared to launch her foot, using her killer ability so he couldn't even move around with his overwhelming cockiness. Unfortunately for her, Natsume read her movements and dodged her foot right on time.

Damn.

Mikan glared at Natsume who was smirking mockingly at her direction. She clenched her fists, ready to launch at him any time, and Natsume's expression clearly told her to bring it on.

_GRROOAAAK…_

Tsubasa's stomach rang loudly breaking the silence before shouting, "God damn it! Why don't we just eat already? I'm starving! I don't care anymore, even if you can't cook, just try, please?"

Natsume looked at Mikan mockingly and showed her the 'Let's-see-what-you-got-look'.

Mikan shook in fury but escaped from him and his sadistic mockery in time; okay, she really wanted to mock him back because he really pissed her off, but again, fate was a bitch because she couldn't win in competing mouth to mouth; she admitted and she accepted the fact that she was lame at it, but why did she have to lose to that Hyuuga bastard?

She stopped in her tracks, and then turned her head back quickly. She saw that he was still waiting in the dining room, face covered by his manga, with his foot resting on the table. She stuck her tongue out and smirked in satisfaction.

Mikan gulped nervously as she observed the kitchen. Well, it was nice and clean, the utensils were complete too; it was a comfy kitchen, but it still didn't change the fact that she couldn't cook!

She walked towards the cabinet and pulled out all the things that she needed. She used to help her mother make breakfast for their family, but she could only do it because her mother was instructing and helping her; the last time she cooked alone, her school's culinary room exploded and needed to be renovated for 3 months.

Hotaru even said that her cooking sucks, that was the reality.

Well, this was it. It wasn't her fault anyway if they died because of her cooking. She already warned them that she couldn't cook—_quite_, but they insisted nonetheless so she might as well give them what they wanted. Just don't blame her when everything turned out to be wrong, right?

_Sigh. Things couldn't get any better._

Mikan laughed sheepishly while scratching the back of her head awkwardly; they were sitting on the table again and Mikan had finished cooking the so-called-breakfast.

Right after she presented the food, all noses were crinkled. They were astounded, speechless, their breaths were taken and no, it was not because her food was awesome, or delicious, or looked tempting.

Truth be told, it was the exact opposite.

Tono looked at the food ridiculously and narrowed his eyes.

"What's this?" he asked while touching it with the end of the spoon, afraid of touching with his skin because he swore to God that he saw germs moving inside. Koko and Kitsuneme looked at it, and then both gulped nervously.

Ruka just stared, stared, and stared. Several beads of sweat were running down on the back of his head, even the bunny on his lap jumped off and shivered at the sight of the food.

Natsume and Tsubasa just kept silent.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Eat it."

The boys all hesitated before eating the _thing_. It was utterly and indescribably _unique_—_disgusting, _and they all shivered at the sight of it. They put it hastily into their mouths before Tono choked in the middle of chewing it.

"M-Mikan, what did you put in it?"

Mikan smiled. "Ginger roots?"

Natsume glared. "You put ginger roots in an omelet?"

Mikan shrugged. "Healthy purposes," she retorted carelessly.

"Did you, b-by any chance, put pickles in?"

She nodded, beaming Kitsuneme one of her three thousand watt smiles. "Yeah, you notice it? I just love pickles!"

All colors drained from their face.

Natsume glared at her. "You could've told us that you can't cook. Your cooking sucks. "

Mikan puffed her cheeks and her brows were raised up. "Hey, at least try to be more concerned!"

Whilst both teenagers were glaring for their lives at each other, the others found themselves ensued in a very awkward and pregnant silence.

"Ugh, how about we order food?" Ruka suggested, breaking the silence as his insides were ready to burst out and he chewed on his cheeks to keep a straight smile on his face.

"Good idea! Let's order sushi!" Mikan blubbered.

Koko and Kitsuneme dashed after nodding; both fighting their way to reach the nearest toilet and Mikan could hear their bickering on who should go inside first.

Oh boy—why didn't they do this _earlier_?

The brunette's body relaxed at the warm water that touched her skin, and then she rectified her position in the bath tub again so it'd be more comfortable.

She regretted not having this kind of bath yesterday—she was so tired that she didn't even bother to look at the bathroom. Now this was what you called paradise. If you got the chance to feel luxury, then this was the right time. This was not a really bad decision she guessed, well minus Hyuuga and his damn ego though. Why was she thinking about that jerk again?

Even though he's quite attractive, it didn't mean she was attracted to him.

Never.

Mikan slapped her cheeks hard, and then pinched them to make her mind clear again. She slumped down into the bubbly water while huffing and encouraging herself. She still had a lot of time in this big mansion, and she didn't really have anything to do here. Should she go home? But if she went home her parents and idiotic brother would not be there.

A silent pause.

Natsume Hyuuga.

That name kept on ringing on her mind; no matter how many times she convinced herself that she would not find herself trapped in thoughts of him. Weird, really. She just _couldn't_—couldn't stop thinking about him and that was what made her hate him so much!

Why did she have to think about that jerk?

But his friends did tell her that Natsume's _not much_ of a jerk. They did admit that Natsume was rude and conceited, but that's just the way he worked with other people. They said that she should be thankful because usually Natsume never let any girl stay near him.

And they mentioned that Hyuuga had a little sister, her name was Aoi Hyuuga. Unlike Natsume, Aoi was a sweet and bubbly person; she was the opposite of her brother. She'd love to meet her someday.

Hey, don't think wrong, she did hate Hyuuga, and it's not that she suddenly liked him. Family problems didn't matter in friendship, that was what she thought. Mikan was so deep in thought that she didn't realize the sound of footsteps in her room and those steps walk towards the bathroom. Mikan, you really needed to change your dense and oblivious personality, and that's for your own good, I'll give you that.

Because here was one example why.

_Brakk. _

"Oi, are you here little girl?" The door opened and Natsume came in, walking as his eyes rolled and landed on the bare flesh of a brunette.

Natsume flinched on his spot and cursed himself inwardly. His luck was shitty today, and he was humiliated for the second time. His eyes widened at the sight of Mikan, still naked and the only thing that covered her body was the bubbles, which were depleting slightly. Damn, his _friend_ was waking up slowly, and he was sure that she could see that _lovely friend_ of his.

Mikan couldn't believe her wretched fate today. Why did they always meet at this kind of time? Why?

They stared at each other.

Natsume heard something snap. Must be Mikan's line of patience.

"Hyuuga," she started.

She was naked, and she was too late to notice this. Natsume smirked at her reaction and he believed that the girl was a complete fool slash idiot, I mean, who didn't even realize that they were naked, and a boy was standing right in front of her.

He really needed to get away from here, so when he saw her fumed expression, he noted that it was time for him to go already.

"Get your stupid, ass out of here, idiot!" she shrieked loudly while splashing some water to him, but the bubbles started to leak even more. She gasped and hurriedly soaked herself into the water.

Natsume just turned his back and then walked to the door before she really noticed his friend. Natsume then stopped on the door, but a certain thing carried his interest, and he plastered out an annoying smirk when he got out.

Mikan was sure that he saw Natsume smirking, and she didn't know what to do anymore, nor did she know why he smirked so smugly at her. She took back her thoughts, Natsume Hyuuga **is** a devil!

Natsume, when he got out, felt his heart beat rapidly. That was really, really _bad_.

It took almost all of his self control to not launch at her or even worse, harass her. Bless him and his pure mind.

He stared at the door before coming out as he jumped onto one absolute conclusion.

Sakura Mikan was actually hot.

Well, the first time he looked at her, she could only describe her as beautiful or pretty. Though he had seen some girls who were prettier than her.

He closed the door behind and found himself bursting out in amusement when he saw his friends waiting for him in front of her room. All of them showed curiosity on their eyes, and he felt proud that he actually saw her naked, him only.

That _actually_ sounded good to his ears. And don't forget that he actually found a new nickname for the little girl, a unique and cute one indeed, but if only they knew the meaning of it.

"_Polkadots_ is bathing," he stated.

They didn't seem to be surprised, because they didn't think that Natsume came in to the bathroom; they thought that he was only checking her room, and found the shower on, period. But how wrong they were because their dear friend actually saw the princess naked and he even did it out of curiosity!

Natsume noticed that the shower was on, but then there was no sound or whatever coming from inside; so he came in to check it out himself. He was a hundred percent sure that Mikan was indeed a loud-mouthed girl, so without thinking another second, he came in and found _a very lovely sight._

"Why did you call her polkadots?" Tono asked, interrupting the mini flashback that was playing on his mind.

Natsume smirked before walked past his friends. "Because Tono—" he turned his back, "That was the pattern of her underwear."

Tono raised his eyebrows in confusion, and the others were doing the same thing with the exact same question, _"How did he know the pattern of her underwear?"_

Natsume smirked even more clearly; because he was sure that Mikan noticed it too, to prove it; he just heard a dramatic gasp coming from the room. How she managed to hear was a mystery though. The certain thing that managed to grab his interest was actually her undergarments, and he saw those scattered near the door. It was on a secluded place, and again, how Natsume was able to see it was also a mystery.

Okay—_not really_ because every single thing that included Mikan Sakura in the dictionary, couldn't pass before his keen black cat's eyes.

* * *

A/N : I finished it! I made a lot of effort to make this chapter because I had an author block while finishing this chapter! OMG, school was terrible, with a capital T! The teachers were so very mean! They were pure evil I tell you! I was so late on updating and I know that this was only the second chapter! Happy reading and please don't forget to give me a review by clicking the review button down there! NO FLAMES PLEASE! Thanks for reviewing the first chapter, and for those who made this story to their favorite story/alert!

_Sakura Breeze, Balloon, Kylee-cat, the-writing-vampire, akadabra-kaching, Mikanatsume, kittykatnatsumemikan, Super-Blob08_

Thanks for reviewing the first chapter!

_The Lonely Serenade_


	3. Not So Bad After All

**Winter Holiday Gone Wrong**

_**Written by The Lonely Serenade**_

**Disclaimer : I do not own Gakuen Alice, okay? :D**

A/N : Might want to read over because this chapter has been edited, and I revised some parts too, sorry! :P

Day 3 – Not So Bad After All

November was one hell of a month. First, the air of November was not something to be happy about. In Japan, if it was summer time then it'd be very humid and hot. If it was winter, then you needed to prepare lots of jackets because the temperature would be beyond cold. It was freezing.

Second, had anyone noticed that the first of November was the exact day after Halloween? Truly, she pitied those people who had birthdays on November one, though inside she'd be saying _no offense_, but now she couldn't think about other damn things about this month. Lastly, it's the start of her torture; November was the beginning of hell. That's what she thought personally.

_Personally._

Mikan was playing with her pen rather weirdly; with her feet rested on the table and some paper plus a book on her chest. Her skirt was hitched up and her hair was still messy after taking a short bath that morning. She involuntarily shivered at the cold air; turning off the air conditioner in the process. She wrinkled her mouth in frustration, her eyes were narrowed and her teeth were chattering because of the chilly weather.

"Ugh, what kind of things I should write to Ryuuki?"

Yes, she was currently in the process of writing a thread letter to her dear precious brother; watch the sarcasm on the earlier word, readers. Well, she would say that after she finished this hell—_insert scoffing and snorting_; she would meet him and tear him limb by limb, or she would skin him and mutilate him.

Cruel as it was, it was for him so she would stick with the limb by limb thing and then she'd throw him to the sea. Hey, that didn't make any difference, did it?

Oh well, like she cared about her brother.

"Oi, polkadots," a cold yet teasing voice said behind the door.

Mikan sighed at the sound of the voice, that voice belonged to none other than her mortal enemy, the perverted jerk, Natsume Hyuuga. Ha, she had decided on the long title for him, because _it was_ the fact. And to make things worse, he always called her that stupid nickname!

_Polkadots._

Geez, he wouldn't forget about the bathroom incident from the other day. Because of that, every time he called her with that stupid name, either Koko, or Tsubasa-senpai, or Tono will laugh! That was just embarrassing! She could tell that Ruka-kun and Kitsuneme were trying their best to hold their laughter, and _personally_ she thought it was much, much, better than showing your expression out loud.

Yeah, everything was personal.

Oh, she forgot about Hyuuga.

"What do you want?" Mikan asked, her eyes now opened half-heartedly.

Then the door was opened, with him walking casually; hands tucked in the pocket of his jeans and a stupid smirk that she wanted to wipe from his face was there, plastered on its glory for her to see. He eyed her from her toe to the inch of her hair, and then a scowl formed on his face.

Mikan's eyes twitched a bit at his reaction.

What did the scowl mean? _And lookie here_, her mind mused. _Hyuuga is now frowning_.

Natsume walked towards her and then rested his hand on her table, looking at her with those deep crimson eyes.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked; a tint of rage could be detected.

Mikan laughed bitterly before scoffing and put her paper on the table. "What do you think I'm doing?" she retorted back unpleasantly.

Her eyes were glaring holes at the boy in front of her, who had no reaction whatsoever from her glare. This made her even madder. Why didn't he react from her glare? It's supposed to be effective!

"You're doing something irrational," he answered simply, face straight, but eyes not. His eyes were raging in angriness.

"I'm not doing something irrational Hyuuga," she spat. "I was currently relaxing myself while writing a thread letter; ah I mean a death letter to my idiotic brother."

"That's not convincing," he grunted.

"I never expected you to be convinced anyway. What the hell do you think I'm doing, huh?" she asked back while pouting slightly.

Natsume grumbled something that she didn't quite catch.

"Excuse me?"

"You're showing too much skin little girl, or should I say, _polkadots,_" he judged, his hand now reaching her skirt and pulled it down a bit. Mikan's eyes widened at his action, and she crept away slowly from the maniac, Natsume.

"I bet you're planning on seducing me, aren't you?" he added cockily.

"Seduce you?" she repeated again, half gasping. "Why would I do something as mortifying as that?"

She heard him chuckling and she immediately turned her head to see him laughing both at her reaction and her . . . her—_Oh My GOD._

She dashed quickly at her table and grabbed the _things _from his hand. Stupid, stupid, Mikan! How could she leave her underwear and bra on the freaking table? And stupid Hyuuga just freaking touched it! It was plastered with perverted germs now! She needed a fertilizer to neutralize her undergarments! Crap!

"You see what I mean?" he was beyond amused.

She glared at him and snatched the _things_ away from his perverted hands. Actually, Natsume wouldn't let her; it was just _too amusing_. He flagged the undergarments up above; with him obviously taller than her making her attempts to grab it back futile.

"Give it back, Hyuuga!" she spat.

Natsume looked like he was thinking for a while, then he _looked_ like he was actually considering it—

"No."

Mikan balled her fist tightly, her eyes were raging from madness, with her lips twitching and slight curses were let out. "Give my _things _back," she hissed while jumping like a bunny to reach out. Natsume smirked, and then simply flagged it higher, waving it like a national flag.

And that was what Mikan trying to say, "Stop waving it like a national flag!"

And he chuckled. Natsume Hyuuga just chuckled.

It's the first time she heard him laughing, well, chuckling for this matter but it actually felt nice, for him to laugh of course.

"That is so _sick_ polkadots. What kind of country that would ever choose a teddy bear patterned panty as it's national flag?"

"Stop messing with me and give me back my undergarments!"

"Not going to."

Mikan cracked her knuckles and then she laughed throatily. "You leave me with no choice then Hyuuga, better prepare yourself," she balled her fist and smiled sweetly. "I pity you for dying in your teenage days, but I'll at least come to your funeral. Promise."

Natsume snorted at her threat and made a challenging look, which clearly pissed her even more than before. "Are you mocking me?" she growled then tackled him to her bed, with his hands pinned by hers, her hair falling gracefully from her shoulder. His feet were trapped between hers, and her face was only an inch away from his. Natsume completely obliged at her bold reaction, and showed her a smirk as a sign of amusement.

"Repeating the same thing again, polkadots?"

He meant yesterday's occurrence, when in result Natsume touched her breasts.

_Bastard._

"Never knew you were this aggressive. Finally turned on from my charm?" he muttered seductively.

She instantly blushed, and retorted back. "What are you saying Hyuu—"

"Natsume, Sakura-san, it's time for breakfa—" Ruka's voice trailed into a shocked silence.

Mikan turned her head to see the gaping Ruka at the door, his face was pale, speechless, utterly bewildered. Tomato red then colored his face.

Mikan finally realized their position, and then shook her head furiously.

"S-Sakura-san, N-N-Natsume, sorry to interrupt!" he uttered before closing the door hurriedly.

"No, Ruka-kun! Wait! It's not what you think!" she screeched to the door. Then she heard Natsume chuckling under her, his hands reached out to pull her body.

"Hyuuga, let go of me!" she protested while struggling to be free from his death grip.

"Stay still woman," she heard him hissed, but she ignored it nevertheless. "What's your problem?"

Mikan glared at him then she pushed him away, her eyes slightly watery. "Don't you dare play on me, ever, again." She showed her index finger which was shaking quite heavily then she walked to the bathroom door, slammed it loudly and locked it from the inside.

"And don't you dare coming in here again perverted bastard!" She exclaimed.

Natsume scoffed at her words then ruffled his hair in reply. "Stupid polkadots," he muttered.

Tsubasa, Tono, Koko, and Kitsuneme were laughing when they heard Mikan's telling, err—_complaining_ about the incident this morning. Mikan grunted at them for teasing her, but all Tsubasa could do was to pat her head like a little child while saying, "Young love. Very refreshing."

Mikan snickered, "Yeah, right, refreshing."

Ruka was not happy about this.

He was actually quite bothered and a bit traumatized by the incident this morning. He was planning to ask Natsume about something, but he recalled Natsume saying to him that he was going to wake Mikan up. He was hoping to get Natsume and to see Mikan at the same time; but what he saw earlier certainly made his heart shattered. Okay, he admitted, he has a crush on Mikan.

And what'd your reaction be when you saw your best friend and your crush in a weird, not to mention, an awkward position that have certain different meanings?

So Ruka could only let out a depressed and long sigh as he listened to the current conversation.

"Really, that pervert! I'm so going to kill him later!" Mikan claimed while throwing her fist up high.

"You can't kill me." Natsume rolled his eyes then took a sit beside Ruka.

"What did you say? You're so insensitive! Have you ever—"

"Good morning, Sakura-san." Ruka butted before she was able to screech her way again, and made him and his other friends' ears bleed. Tono and Tsubasa sighed in relief while Kitsuneme and Koko grinned at him for showing their gratitude.

"Ruka-kun. Good morning. Sorry for the ruckus," she mumbled while gritting her teeth, "It seems that _somebody_ was too cocky to even say a good morning." She emphasized it purposely while glimpsing at Natsume.

"You're so out of it." He ignored her as he took a bit of the cookie that was placed on the table. Practically, they were sitting on the living room after having breakfast. The five boys found it weird because Natsume and Mikan were not arguing or talking to each other so they assumed that something was wrong.

"Sakura-san. Uh, about—"

"If you're talking about the incident this morning then please, don't misunderstand. We just have some sort of . . . _accident._"

Natsume snorted; Mikan glared.

"Eh? That's not what I'm trying to say, though explaining it was very kind of you."

Mikan blushed. "Eh? It wasn't? Then what is it?"

Ruka scratched his head and then sat down properly. "We're just going to tell you about the upcoming Christmas event," he explained as he moved the pillow on his spot to the other free spot.

"Eh? I thought there was no such thing as a Christmas event?"

"Well, we've decided that maybe, we should make a Christmas event after all. We're slightly sorry for you so yeah—what do you think?" Tsubasa asked.

Mikan's eyes twinkled in excitement and she let out a charming smile, "That'll be awesome! Why don't you just say it in the first place?"

Tsubasa smiled. "We wanted to make it a surprise for you."

Mikan squealed loudly and ran to hug Tsubasa, enveloping him in a big bear hug. "I love you, Tsubasa!"

"Shut the crap up, stupid woman. You're ruining my hearing." Natsume grunted while throwing a cookie at her.

"Can you at least be happy for me, Hyuuga? Don't you know that you're so annoying?" she affirmed, "And you just threw a cookie at me! I'll have cooties!"

"Even though cookies and cooties have the same rhyme, it doesn't mean that you'll get cooties if I threw you a cookie!"

"You just took back my words! That's rude, you maniac!"

"It's not my fault that you're such an idiot that you don't even know how to retort back!"

They glared at each other and they were having a cold war. Really, really, cold.

Mikan broke their stares and smiled sweetly; too sweet actually, to the five boys.

"Thanks guys, I really appreciate it."

Tsubasa and the others shivered at the mood swings but they returned her smile anyways. "Anything for you, Mikan."

She tilted her head. "Oh, that reminds me."

"Thanks again Ruka-kun." She walked towards him and kissed his cheek. "It's your present," she mumbled while a tint of red marked her porcelain cheek.

Natsume took notice of this and he was feeling annoyed at her mushy actions. She never willingly kissed him, and she never even smiled truly at him. Yet, his best friend was kissed by her, and she even smiled at him. _Riiiight._

Remind him, Ruka was a prince charming.

Feeling sick of his own emotions, he abruptly stood up while glaring at the couple.

"I'm so sick of this," he grunted coldly.

Mikan looked at him before returning glares at his back. "What's his problem?"

Tsubasa, Koko, and Kitsuneme all sighed.

A triangle love was about to be formed.

"Huh? What's going on?" Tono asked obliviously.

Tsubasa twitched and slapped his head. "Stupid moron."

It was night and the dark curtain fell upon Tokyo. It was seriously cold outside; of course, Natsume didn't care. He was resting his head on the chair outside the balcony while enjoying the view. It was breathtakingly beautiful. The sky was plastered with a dark midnight blue color; the stars were twinkling brightly, decorating the sky like a perfect jewel.

For the whole day after Ruka kissed polkadots. Yeah, it's not polkadots kissed Ruka but Ruka kissed polkadots. He ignored the two and stayed in his room reading his manga all day. Therefore, he skipped lunch and he even skipped dinner. When Koko knocked on his door, he just pretended to be asleep and he heard Koko sigh.

He was annoyed by them.

Nosy fellows.

Natsume was cracked by their simple kiss. It only resulted to one stupid unbelievable conclusion.

He had a crush on Mikan.

But then, don't get him wrong. Crush was way different from love, it didn't mean that he was falling in love with her; he was just physically attracted to her, he was having a crush, that was all that mattered. He would gradually forget about it if he got used to her being around.

Still, the thought made him want to laugh. He never actually thought that he'd have a crush on a girl; it was supposed to be the other way around. She was the one who was supposed to have a crush on him. And damn, that point made his ego clench in annoyance.

Moreover, the girl has a bad taste in undergarments.

"Hyuuga," a cold voice said from behind.

Talk about the devil. What was she doing here?

"What do you want, polkadots?"

He heard her snort. "Never mind. Ruka and the others were worried about you. They asked me to check on you, unfortunately," she replied stoically.

Oh, so she didn't come here on her own. Typical her . . . What did he expect from a dense girl anyway?

"Don't waste your time to mind me if you don't want to."

Mikan didn't answer him and it annoyed the hell out of him. But when he turned to look at her, the sight made his blood boil.

"What the hell are you doing?" His eyes twitched.

Mikan smirked at him, putting her legs even higher and then sighed when he glared harder. "What's your problem, Hyuuga? I'm just resting my foot on the table. Look at yourself. You're doing the exact same thing as me, or by any chance, are you blind?"

Natsume groaned and he had the urge to pinch her cheeks right now. "You're showing your legs!" he divulged.

Mikan's eyes widened and she felt her face starting to get hot. "Is that what you're thinking? You really are a pervert!" she barked while pulling her skirt down.

Natsume smirked and then rested his chin on his palm. "Now that you mention it, I like it better without the skirt, it's more appealing," he answered boldly. True, the sight of her legs were shown only for his eyes, reserved only for him, marked only by him, and the property of him. The green eyed monster was not happy when his property−Mikan's legs−was seen by others. That was Natsume's definition of possessive, and no one, he repeated, no one could touch his property, not even his best friend.

Mikan growled and then pulled her skirt even more down. "Shut the hell up Hyuuga. No one will notice even if I did that anyway," she muttered.

Natsume turned his head to look at her. "What? You're indicating me that you're going to do that again?" he hissed.

"No! I never said I would! And even if I do, it's because I forget!" she defended.

"Listen here stupid little girl, men are dangerous and all of them are perverts," he stated. "They'll sexually harass and do _creepy things_ to you."

Mikan cracked a laugh and blinked at him, "You mean you're talking about _you_?"

He rolled his eyes again and then he noticed that she was shivering. She was wearing a sleeveless shirt. What an idiot . . .

"What kind of idiot would forget to wear a jacket in this bloody season?" he said as he threw his jacket at her face.

Not that he cared if she got a cold.

Mikan was thinking whether to thank him or to yell at him for throwing his jacket and mocking her. Well, he was acting unusually nice so fine, thanking him wouldn't hurt right?

"Thanks," she mumbled while looking away.

"Hn."

"Oh and Hyuuga," she felt her cheeks burning. "It-it's not Ruka who wanted to check on you; it—it's me, actually. I-I'm worried about you."

Natsume stared at her. "What are you trying to tell me?"

"And I, _uhh_—_I'm sorry_ for shouting at you earlier."

Natsume raised one of his brows and smirked. "Don't mention it."

She smiled inwardly and stood up. She walked slowly to the door and stopped for a while.

Maybe he's not so bad after all.

"Strawberry pattern."

Or maybe not.

* * *

A/N: Uhm. I clearly stated that I've finished this chapter in three hours! Give three loud claps for me! Thanks for the awesome support and reviews from the earlier chapter. I really appreciate it!

Hope you enjoy this chapter! Please review! I'll try to update faster!

_JS KID, Kylee-cat, Super-Blob08, kaWaiI TanGeRinE, the-writing-vampire, akadabra-kaching, XxCrazy PenguinxX, BOB.O, Claerine, hannaxsweetheart, bewy-chan, Madam Unwritten._

Thanks for reviewing the earlier chapter!

_The Lonely Serenade_


	4. The Unexpected Date

**Winter Holiday Gone Wrong**

_Written by The Lonely Serenade_

**Disclaimer: You know already, I don't own GA . **

Day 4 — The Unexpected Date

The brunette haired girl groaned tiredly and plopped herself to the bed. Right after she positioned herself, she sighed in content and snuggled up even more. Well, for sure her eyelids were betraying her mind who clearly told her to wake up and do her stupid damn homework. These days had been tough for her; her life was no longer normal, and her once peaceful life was ruined. And it was happening because of Natsume Hyuuga. The boy had been teasing her non-stop and she couldn't help but wondering whether he was good, or bad. The guy was utterly confusing and she didn't know if he was playing on her for his own amusement or he really wanted to be her . . . her _friend._

Still, even the name brought nausea to her stomach. Not to mention, she forgot about her homework and today, Tsubasa-senpai had found tons of paper piling up in the mailbox. It seems that Ryuuki, the brunette's charming brother has mailed them because for sure Mikan will kill him if he came personally.

She took a glace on her mountains of homework and made a disgusted look at them. "Aaaah! That's it! I'm going crazy!" she screamed in frustration.

Then suddenly, a voice spoke up, "You don't have to say that out loud polkadots, you're already crazy in the first place, why bother telling it to the whole world?"

Mikan's brows twitched simultaneously and her head swirled to the direction of the voice. She narrowed her hazel eyes, but it soon turned into a glare.

"What the heck are you doing in my room? Have you heard anything called privacy?" she exclaimed while stomping at his direction. She folded her arms on her chest and hardened her glare at him, "And why are you always end up in my room? Did you plan this?"

Natsume rolled his crimson orbs and grinned smugly. "I've knocked. But there's no respond and when I came in you've already shouting like a mad man. Though I was hoping that you'll be in the bathroom so I'll be seeing you nak—"

"What?" she screeched as her eyes widen in mere second.

"I said, I was hoping that you'll be nake—"

"I know that! _Just_—don't say it out loud!"

Oh Lord, he smirked boyishly and Mikan couldn't believe that his brother even befriend a pervert like him! God, he was mental I tell you! She'd suggest him to go to a psychologist later. They stared into each other's eyes and there was a silent, a long, long silent that's infuriating— that's what Mikan thought.

"Oh, cherries," he started cooly.

Mikan was startled because of his statement. Why did he call her cherries, it was so sickening corny and mushy and a stupid cocky person like him wouldn't—

_Gasp._

Finally realization hit her. "Why did you call me cherries Hyuuga?" she snapped.

Natsume directed his gaze at her face, and then rolled back at the sight of her room. "That's your undergarment's pattern, why else?"

Mikan growled and her eyes were raging with embarrassment. How dare he peek at her undergarments, again!

"You don't have to peek at them! And you seriously have a peeking management issue!" she accused while walking towards the door and opened it widely for him. "And get out of here!"

"Wait, cherr—"

"I said get out! I'm busy!" And as she said that, she pushed Natsume out from her room and locked the door in an instant. Natsume felt pissed and cursed under his breath because he fell down on his butt when Mikan pushed him, and to think that he was actually going to help her with her homeworks because he knew that she—Ryuuki's ingenious brother was stupid; an idiot to be precise.

Tch . . . _Damnation_.

Mikan blinked and pouted frustratingly. Why did God have to be so unfair today? First the stupid homework, and now this pervert won't even have a day without troubling her! Why did he even take a bother to come to her room just to annoy her? Why? Did he need her for something, or maybe, he was going to tell her something?

_Hahahaha._

Dear readers, that was the sound of Mikan's mind laughing in a sarcastic way. Don't forget that it was churning with Mikan's snorts as the sound effect. She was way, way cursing her brain for even thinking that the Mr-I'm-so-great will take the pleasure to tell her something.

She almost forgot one thing. He was an impolite lazy ass bastard.

She could never imagine a smiling Natsume calling her cheerfully and told that he has something to say to her. That'll be creepy—and she practically shivered at her own thoughts.

Then she heard a knock on the door.

She furrowed her brows together and glared holes at the door. What did he want now? Didn't he have enough fun tormenting her already?

"What do you want? I have no time doing some chit-chat with you! Go away!" she snapped.

Then suddenly, Mikan heard something fell down and she immediately ran toward the door to see what's happening. If it was really Hyuuga falling down, that will embarrassed him to no end, while laughing evilly, she prepared her camera and opened her door to see a falling person in a pile of book.

Unfortunately it was not Hyuuga.

Mikan's smirking face turned into a bright frown and she sighed. Well, what did she expect? To think that the pervert can actually embarrassed himself in a matter of second—He got a lot of pride and she was sure that it'll not be easy to do it. Speaking of which, she noted the person in front of her and laughed.

"Tsubasa-senpai? What're you doing sitting in a pile of book?" she asked as she stretched her arm for him to take. Tsubasa gave a thankful smile and gladly took her hand.

"Well, I've got something to tell you," he answered nervously while scratching his head.

Mikan tilted her head in confusion and smiled. "Uhm, why don't you come in first? I think you've a secret to tell me."

Tsubasa nodded at her and walked into her room. But, he stopped almost suddenly and gazed at her. "Mikan, are you sure? Because I was sure that a minute ago you're yelling at me and telling me to go away?" he asked.

Mikan laughed throatily and shakes her head in denial. "Oh, that. . . Don't worry, I thought you're that pervert so I automatically shouted. Sorry about that." Mikan explained while closing the door as they entered her room.

Tsubasa's face twitched into a naughty smirk and a playful grin crossed his handsome face. Mikan noticed this and scowled. "What are you grinning at?"

Tsubasa shrugged and patted her head. "It seems that you and Natsume are getting closer huh? Falling for him already?" he mentioned, as beads of sweat started to trickle down his head the minute he said this because Mikan threw him a cold glare.

"Don't even think about it. I'm not falling for him, I hate him. Because—"

"He's a pervert?" Tsubasa guessed. Mikan moved her head up and down and sighed, "Exactly."

_But then again, there's a thin line between love and hate . . . _

Tsubasa then snapped out of his thoughts and cleared his throat. "Um, I'm just going to go to the point then," he stated as he showed the books that he fell down on earlier to Mikan.

"Yes?"

"You see, I think this book will be useful for you. Just . . . Just open it," he ordered. Mikan obliged and she took the books from his hand. Her eyes widened as she flipped through each page, her hazel eyes roaming around the neatly written handwriting on the book. How the hell did Tsubasa get these answers? He must be a genius!

Mikan broke the silence while kept staring at the books. "This was—"

"The answer sheets for your homework."

Mikan squealed and cheered loudly, she stood up and danced an unknown dance in circle, her hair bouncing in the air following her every moves. "Thanks Tsubasa-senpai, I owe you one!" she chortled in happiness.

Tsubasa just smiled but he then frowned again when he noticed that the girl was no longer dancing around.

"What's wrong?" he asked curiously.

Mikan then put the books back and bowed at his feet. "Please oh please Tsubasa-senpai, I really, really need this book so—"

"Mikan? I'm not asking it back so you could−"

"So _please_ name anything you want me to do, you must be planning on som—"

"Wait, what? Mikan? What are you tal—"

"You need me for something right? That's why you gave me this book." Mikan answered, her brows looped down. Tsubasa sweat dropped at the sudden change of her moods. Girls really are scary, especially their constant changing mood swing. And he was surprised with her skills on judging things. For someone so dense, she could be pretty sharp at noticing others.

Then, he finally absorbed Mikan's word and they kept on ringing on his head.

"Please senpai, I'll do everything you ask me to do! Of course the possible things, but _please_—I'll do anything to get this book, so please! I can't stand those stupid algebras, physics, literatu—"

"Will you go on a date with me?" Tsubasa blurted out, stopping her non-stop babblings. By that time, the only thing that managed to pass her mind was . . .

"Huh?"

Mikan took a deep gaze at her reflection on the mirror; twirling slightly as she smiled and clasped her hands together. She looked perfect.

She wore a beautiful baby blue dress that reach her knees, showing her long slender legs perfectly, and since it was winter—And bloody cold too add, she wore a matching blue jacket to wrapped her body and kept it warm. She pinned her loose hair with a clip, and there, done.

Why did she dress up today you ask? Oh, simple. She agreed to Tsubasa's offer yesterday. Though he's not really having a date with him, there's nothing wrong to keep your looks right? Actually, she had refused Tsubasa once, but agreed later after he told her that he was asking her to go to a date with him because he need a love advice from her. It seems that they couldn't do it at home, seeming that Tono had put a video camera in every room. Mikan was freaked out because it means that it was the betrayal of her privacy but Tsubasa said that it was guarded with a sensor. And her heart calmed down immediately.

She walked out of her room, locked it and she skipped happily while walking down the stairs. This time, without falling down which was— A remarkable achievements because she had fallen from this stairs for God-knows-how-many-times.

She greeted Ruka who was passing by her, and Tsubasa told her that Ruka was the only one knew about their date. Koko and Kitsuneme were having a sleepover on their parents' house, and Tono was still sleeping soundly.

"Good morning Ruka-kun!" she greeted him.

Ruka flashed a warm smile towards her, but he was actually feeling jealous inside because Tsubasa has the chance to go on a date with her. But on the other side, he was quite happy because two enemy has fell down as now he know that both Tono and Tsubasa has no feelings for the lovely brunette, which makes him relief a bit.

"Good morning to you too Sakura. Are you excited about the date?" he asked.

Mikan nodded in response and continued her walk to the living room. "Bye Ruka-kun, see you later!" she waved her hand.

Mikan took noted of how the mansion was so big; she even needed ten minutes to reach the living room. Crap, it was so big!

Finally, she entered the living room as her nose perked up at the familiar scent of Lemon. She loves the living room's scent, because it has the scent of Lemon, with the mixed of Lavender, which reminds her of Hotaru.

Unfortunately for her again, her happy thought were broken as she saw a familiar figure sitting carelessly on the sofa. With both arms folding behind his head, his legs rested on the marble table, but what made the person clear was the manga that's covering the person's face.

It was Natsume Hyuuga.

Mikan prayed inside that Natsume was sleeping; as she walked quietly, only the faint tapping sounds of her heels that's heard and she smiled brightly as she saw the figure kept still, meanings he didn't hear that.

But that was wrong.

"Little girl, where do you _think_ you're going?"

Mikan almost tripped on her heels as she winced at the coldness of the sound. Gosh, seemed like someone woke up in the wrong side of the bed today.

"Hyuuga. I—umm.. I," she stuttered as she turned to look at Natsume's scowling face and the fact that his crimson eyes were twinkling in amusement. She looked at the watch on the wall and gasped.

She has no time worrying about this, she'll be late!

"Um.. I—I'm going to go shopping with my friends, bye!" she dashed out of the room, opening the door in the main mansion and walked hurriedly to the main gate. She didn't know why did she have to lie to him, but she just felt that if she told him the truth, something bad will happened, but neither this make her feelings better.

Natsume's crimson eyes trailed the disappearing figure and he scowled. Polkadots was lying because she was obviously not a good liar.

Something's going on here. And he's going to find out no matter what.

Tsubasa squirmed nervously while looking at his watch. Mikan was late and he was nervous! What if she didn't come, but he really, really need her advice! He laughed sheepishly about the idea and the fact that they live in the same house but they didn't go to the date together? It was because he knew that if a certain person knows about their date, he's going to die in an early age.

And he clearly didn't want that to happen, so he took the bother to ask Mikan if they can went outside at a different time. Nobody will get suspicious.

His head turned as he heard running steps from behind. His midnight blue eyes swirled in cheerfulness as he looked at his lovely kouhai.

Her creamy cheeks were tainted with rosy color, and her hair was disheveled but it was still cute in a way. He was sure that if he didn't have a crush on Misaki, he's going to fall for her too. Good thing he didn't, because if he did, he'll have two of the most wanted guys as his enemy.

"Mikan, you came!" he claimed, showing his oh-so-killing smirk at her. Mikan rolled her eyes and punched his chest playfully. "Well, if I didn't, then I'll have to say goodbye to my answer sheets didn't I?" she replied flatly. Tsubasa grinned even more and ruffled her hair. "Good to have a deal with you Mikan, now let's go on shall we?" he asked, bowing down at her.

Mikan giggled and took his hands. "Come on now Prince Tsubasa, escort Princess Mikan will you?" Mikan joked as they laughed together, and for the people that are passing by . . . They _looked_ like a couple.

"So, what kind of love advice you wanted to ask me, Tsubasa-senpai?" Mikan confirmed straight to the point. Tsubasa took out his mobile phone and turned to look at her, pulling her hands in his.

"Geez Mikan, let's find a place to talk first, you're taking it too fast you know." Tsubasa alleged while dragging her to a certain place.

"Ummm…. _Oookay_. By the way, what's this place?" Mikan asked as her eyes blinked and they glowed in surprise at the sight of the place.

Tsubasa pointed at the sign on top of the buildings. "This is Central Town, and this is a big shopping district. You can find anything you want, they have almost everything here. But never mind that, where do you want to go first?"

Mikan thought for a while and she glimpsed at Tsubasa while laughing evilly. Tsubasa's pocket scrunched up in warning because he felt that he's going to lose something. He had a very bad feeling about this.

Mikan sliced up the last piece of cake that she's taken in her stomach, burping slightly and she took the last sip at her vanilla latte. She wiped the cream on her mouth with her handkerchief, glancing at the crying Tsubasa because of his lost in money.

"Tsubasa-senpai, are you okay?" Mikan assured symphatically. Tsubasa glared at her before showing the inside of his wallet, which was empty. "You got me broke you know that Mikan? I mean, seriously, ten cakes? You'll get cavities later," he advised, rubbing his aching temples. Mikan flashed him a contented smile and tapped on his finger.

"So, what do you want to know? I didn't just waste your money for anything you know. You also need to get what you want," Mikan announced, grinning slightly at the face of Tsubasa who returned back to his usual composure.

"Oh yeah, that, right. You see . . . I—I—I—I—"

"You, you, you, you?"

"I-I-I-"

"Oh just said it already!" Mikan interrupted, "Let it out!"

"I had a crush on a girl." he answered, and he regretted saying that as he clamped his mouth and looked at the silent Mikan. Her mouth twitched slowly, ready to make a gaping expression. But instead of gaping, she laughed out loud and clutched on her stomach, _hard_.

"What's so funny?" Tsubasa stated wryly, "I didn't recall I've said anything funny."

Mikan wiped the tears on her eyes and pointed her still shaking finger at him. "That's not it Tsubasa-senpai! It's just, so . . . _weird_! Seriously, you're the worst dealer I've ever met in my whole entire world!" she sneered; her eyes glimmered mockingly at him. Tsubasa frowned and made a bored face. "Are you just going to insult me or will you tell me why the heck did you say that?"

"Oh, sorry about that." Mikan answered, not actually meaning it.

"Well?"

Mikan took a deep breath and smirked. "First, you're the worst dealer ever because you gave me a treasure sheet for my homework, with the change of advice on how to court a girl you has a crush with."

Tsubasa narrowed his eyes, still indicating that he didn't get the ridiculous point. "So?"

Mikan slapped her forehead and sighed. "God, you know nothing about girls." she muttered.

"That's why I said I need an advice from you," Tsubasa pointed out.

"You see, we, girls, just want a guy for who he is. And so you've wasted your money and your genius brain just to get this stupid answer, how did this didn't make you the worst dealer ever?" Mikan convulsed, her mouth parted into a meaningful smirk.

Tsubasa mouthed an "OOO" at her while laughing at his stupidity.

"By the way, who's the lucky girl?"

He thought for a while and pulled out a photo of a beautiful pink-haired girl. "This girl, Harada Misaki. She was my childhood friend but since middle school we've gone to a different school, and fortunately, you go to the same school as her. I need your help to observe her,"

"Oh, Misaki-senpai?" she blinked, and then she laughed. "She was one of my besties! And oh _damn_! She didn't have a boy friend Tsubasa-senpai! You're _so_ lucky! So you don't need to worry, no one has _yet_ to claim her," Mikan asserted, patting his shoulder.

Tsubasa cupped his cheeks frustratingly and clenched his fist. "It'll not be easy. Tono was after her too. That's why we can't talk inside the house," he grunted.

Mikan stayed silent and she suddenly stood up. "You know what Tsubasa-senpai? I took back my words, you need a lot of list of things to buy," she affirmed while nodding her head repeatedly. Tsubasa's eyes widened and he clicked his tongue inside hardly, meanings he needed more money to spend.

"You need to know Misaki-senpai as a start. First, the colors. Misaki-senpai's favorite color was —"

"Pink," they said in chorus. Tsubasa crackled up in laughter and so is Mikan. Well you could tell that though Misaki is a bit tomboy, she loved pink. That's obvious when you look at her face, pink hair, and pink eyes. Simply pink everything.

"Okay, good. And you need chocolates, flowers, ribbons, dresses—"

"Need what?" Tsubasa choked on his mineral water. His mouth suddenly went dry as Mikan kept on rambling on the stuffs he needed to buy to get Misaki's heart.

Mikan pouted and grinned mischievously, "Well, you want to get her heart right?"

"Yeah, but—"

"And you knew that Tono was a womanizer, a man with woman issues?"

Tsubasa gritted his teeth, "Yes, but —"

"No buts senpai, love needs some sacrifices, don't you think so?" she pressed, "So, hurry up. We're going to start with clothes. Oh, and you might be getting blind by the colors later, you don't mind do you?"

Tsubasa cried animatedly at her as he was dragged by Mikan to go on with their so-called date. Though it ended up with Tsubasa spending his money on stupid things, courtesy of Mikan that is.

And because of that, Tsubasa started to hate pink more than ever.

Mikan opened the door of the mansion quietly. She had spent a lot of time in Central Town today, and it was a blast! It seemed that fate was on her side today because they met Misaki on Central Town and she, becoming a good and understanding kouhai, left them alone so they could enjoy on their date.

She wanted to laugh at Tsubasa's flustered expression when Misaki found him in a woman clothing section while he himself was holding a pink skirt on his hand. Well, at least her plans did work smoothly. You can't call her love doctor for nothing.

She shivered at the coldness of winter and she cursed the bloody season for being so uncooperative with her. Little did she know; someone was watching her every move right after she went inside the mansion.

Mikan walked to the stairs quietly she felt like a burglar who's sneaking in.

_Oh why am I thinking this? This is my home now. _

Slowly, the person who watched her stretched one of his arms, and pulled her body close to his. Mikan wanted to scream but the person clamped Mikan's mouth tightly, and she could felt the person's mint breath on her neck.

She struggled helplessly from the person's grasp but the person won't let her free. The person neared his lips and as his cold lips touched her soft ear, she couldn't help but felt shiver running down her spine.

At least she could tell that the person is a "he", by feeling his tall and muscular body against hers.

"Enjoy your shopping time, _Mikan?_"

And she had her hazel eyes widened.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoy this chapter! :D Review please, with a cherry on top? Just click the review button there! No flames, please? :)

_The Lonely Serenade_


	5. When Jealousy Demands

**Winter Holiday Gone Wrong**

_Written by The Lonely Serenade_

**Disclaimer : Do not own it, too bad huh? :'(**

Day 5 — When Jealousy Demands

And her hazel eyes widened.

Shock and confusions were spinning through her head. She couldn't believe the sight that was taken in through her eyes. Was this a dream? But heck! She could feel the boy's breath on her ears—so it was obviously not a dream. That's point one.

Point two?

The guy just nipped her ear! It felt so real! But what shocked her the most was the person who was trapping her; the person who was currently nipping on her ear. The person whose breath she could feel so clearly.

The person named Ruka Nogi.

She didn't expect it to be Ruka! If it was the pervert, Hyuuga, then maybe she wouldn't be this shocked. But this was the sweet charming Ruka-kun we're talking about! How could he be this—_bold_? Damn it! She swore she could feel heat running out of her ears!

"R-Ruka-kun, please release me," Mikan stammered through her trembling lips. Ruka pulled his lips from her swollen earlobe and looked to meet Mikan's eyes.

Mikan's eyes instantly widened when she saw his flushed face, and as her orbs met Ruka's ones, she realized that those once gentle eyes now looked _dull_—more like out of trance. She furrowed her brows and pushed Ruka harder. Ruka just rested his head on Mikan's shoulder, as her breath suddenly hitched.

"Mikan," Ruka murmured as he buried his nose in Mikan's hair, sniffing in her trance.

Mikan gulped and she moved her shaking hands to push him even harder. The guy was out of his mind! "Ruka-kun! What's goi—"

Sniff.

Mikan smelled something extremely familiar through her nose. Ruka's mouth was unpleasantly placed near her nose, and she could feel his breath, _minty breath_. But something was there, something like grape and a little bit alcoholic. Wait—_alcohol_?

She snapped out of her trance and this time, with full power, she pushed Ruka harder. Ruka groaned but as soon as he closed his eyes, he felt like he had lost his energy. His eyes felt so heavy and his surrounding looked so black. His head was spinning, and he could see the blurry image of Mikan, looking at him in worry.

"Ruka-kun!" Mikan's worried voice was the only thing that managed to absorb his foggy mind before he fainted.

Mikan gasped as she saw Ruka's body that was falling to her. She immediately caught him and stood him up as fast as possible. She crinkled her nose at the smell of his breath. She was right. It was alcohol. So Ruka was drinking? He was actually drinking?

She noted the boy and growled in frustration. Ruka was drunk! That explained the flushed face and alcohol trance on his breath. She blushed scarlet as she remembered the earlier. He had kissed—more like nipped her earlobe! But she shook her head and pushed the thoughts away. What was she getting at anyway? She was getting way too crazy.

_Besides, Ruka didn't do this on purpose. He was drunk, so snap out of it!_

Mikan sighed deeply and dragged her and Ruka's body who was glued on hers closely. They went out of the dark stairs alley and as she stepped to the stairs to take Ruka, she tripped.

Mikan cursed her clumsiness and blamed it all to her mother who she took after from.

The hell with it.

She closed her eyes and prepared herself to feel the hard and cold stairs banged her body. She was waiting for the impact. But before that, she felt the urge to kill and to curse whoever made Ruka drunk —the guy deserved to die! _Tsk,_ she hadn't made her will and she hadn't killed Ryuuki for all this matter!

Okay, this is it. Goodbye beautiful world. She really did enjoy her short fifteen years living in this world. She just hoped that she'd go to heaven and could finally have a peaceful live there; without worrying any single thing that was left.

3 . . .

2 . . .

1 . . .

_Uh-huh_, it didn't hurt, not at all. She frowned darkly.

Damn it! Could she just die already? What's taking those angels so long? Why won't they take and bring her to heaven? Was she that sinful? Could she just be forgiven for this onc—

"Idiot. Stop closing your eyes. I know that you're alive," called a notoriously cold voice. A very familiar one to add with.

Well that explained everything. That rude voice. That rude, raspy voice. That rude, raspy, and husky voice. Wait, _husky_? Scratch that!

Mikan fluttered her hazel eyes, and she met up with a pair of bloodshot eyes. Knew it.

She gulped. "H-Hyuuga."

He just gave her a weird stare. Mikan felt his burning gaze glaring through every part of her body, shivering her to the point of fear. He was obviously creeping her out! And to make things more fun, the guy was pissed.

"W-What do you want?" she mumbled nervously.

Natsume narrowed his crimson eyes at her, trailing her eyes at the movement of his and she finally realized that he's holding onto her hips. _Tightly._

"P-Pervert! Let go of me!" she gasped.

She stepped on the stairs carefully and turned to glare at him. From the corner of her eyes, he saw the sleeping Ruka was safely put on the edge of the stairs, and so she released a relief breath.

"Is that how you treat your savior, _smiley?_" his cold voice demanded. Mikan now felt her bursting courage—decreased to the lowest. Heck, she didn't even care that he was calling her names! She managed to gulp on her own saliva, feeling the unusually cold voice of his make her cringed in fear.

"S-Shut up pervert!" she gave him a nervous laugh, "Stop scaring me like that!"

Natsume's eyes darkened in the slightest second at her statement. A pursuing low growl managed to pass his mouth. Mikan, who obviously heard this, shivered in fear.

The sound he made earlier was not music to her ears; it sounded very threatening, very possessive, very intimidating.

Natsume walked towards where Ruka laid and pulled him, glimpsing secretly as he fixed his eyes on Mikan's flustered face.

He gripped Ruka even tighter. "Fine, go away. It's already late and I don't need little girls bothering me at night," he stated coldly, his back turned from her and he walked to the stairs, still carrying Ruka's body in his arms. His steps were heavy, and his muscular back just gave Mikan a sight of his well-built body.

Mikan gaped, and felt her fist shake. _The nerve! _

Dammit! Stupid Hyuuga, scaring her like this! What's his _problem_? And they said that women were cranky, _yeah right_, here's one example of a cranky man.

She sighed and groaned as she walked slowly, or more like dragging her feet on the stairs. This was such a long day and she needed a rest. The next thing she knew, everything will be just fine, _right? _

That's what she thought.

But _reality was cruel._

* * *

Okay, what could be worse? Failing a grade, or having some kind of rapid heart attack every time while she was living in this mansion? Mikan groaned and banged her head to the warm pillow, a frustrated sigh escaped her mouth. She shut her lips and narrowed her eyes, taking in the sight of her room. A complete mess.

Last night, she didn't even bother to tidy her room, she was way too tired. But guess what? She couldn't sleep until morning! She could hear the cocking chicken voice of her alarm when she was about to drift off to her slumber! Could it get any better? Oh yeah, the fact that she had to face both Ruka-kun and Hyuuga today. They were part of her reasons why she couldn't go to sleep—she was still thinking about the _accident._

Sure, Ruka-kun was drunk and he might not realize what he has done. But what if he remembers? That'd be awkward! And Hyuuga! She didn't know, but with him giving her the cold shoulder, it really irked her to bits! Damn, stupid Hyuuga for making this worse, and she still needed to investigate him and find out his reasons for being moody.

And that called for some observation.

Needless to say, she felt too tired to do anything. Could she just escape all of this and pretend that this was just a stupid nightmare? She couldn't.

Because reality was too cruel. Damn cruel.

She took a deep breath and got out of her bed. She had finished bathing a couple of minutes ago, and she just laid on the bed, reminiscing on deep thoughts. She picked her comb up and walked to the mirror. She must have looked awful, no—_horrible_. Her eyes were puffy, but at least she didn't look _that bad_. Again, her eyes traveled and landed on something.

Gasp.

Holy Moly.

A _mark_! A mark on her earlobe! What the—It must be because of Ruka's bite yesterday! Was it even possible to have a hickey on your ear? God, how could you do this to her? She was miserable enough, but why did this have to happen to her? Was she that sinful?

She squatted on the floor, trailing her fingers across the carpet on the floor slowly, her face showed a deep depression. You could tell that the feeling was mutual.

How could she keep the mark from anybody? Well, if she had long hair, she could always hide it behind her locks. . .

Blink.

Her eyes widened in realization and she stood up, almost immediately and looked at her reflection once again. She started to form a goofy grin on her face, plastered clearly, showing every single tint of happiness that was bursting out. How could she not realize this? She had a long hair, heck! It reached until her waist! How could she be so forgetful?

"Geez, I take back my words about being an idiot! _I'm_ a genius!" she uttered proudly, hazel eyes glowing in an evidently bright way.

She pulled out the bands that were tangling her hair together. Her auburn locks fell gracefully on her shoulders, shining brightly as it showed the silky trances of her hair. She took a simple black clip and put it near her hair so the locks wouldn't move.

Perfect.

She beamed at her own reflection and walked to the door. Breathing out a sigh of relief, she walked down the stairs, completely forgetting her worries and thought only about how genius her mind could be.

Mikan skipped to dining room, expecting everybody to have gathered while having a nice, peaceful morning breakfast. But, what she saw was something that she never expected. The room was empty. No one was there in her presence, nada, no, none, no, zip.

She wrinkled her brows in confusion, and nevertheless, a cute scowl started to form on her face. The tapping of her foot could be heard very clearly because the room practically echoed it. If they were gone, they could at least have given her a note!

She was about to protest again and mutter some curses before her eyes caught the sight of a paper on the table. Oh, there's the note.

She laughed sheepishly and scratched her head as she skipped towards the note. Her hands reached out to take it.

Mikan wondered where they went, and she was hoping for them to come back early since she had something to talk to Tsubasa-senpai about. Well, she thought that maybe she could find out the reason why Natsume got angry with her; her senpai is reliable.

But as her eyes trailed to read the note, she gaped. _W-W-W-What?_

_To Sakura._

_Umm, Sakura-san. This is Ruka writing by the way. I'm sorry for the inconvenience for yesterday. For my act, I mean. Natsume told me that I fainted, I'm sorry to bother you. You see, Tono, me, and Natsume were having a drinking contest last night. Though Tono was the one who suggested it. Ahm, I'm really sorry for what I've done yesterday. Really._

_Oh, and if you didn't know. Me and Tono are going to Hokkaido to pick up someone important. We'll be going for five days and we'll be back afterwards. Tsubasa's staying at Misaki's apartment for a while, he just called me. Oh, Kitsuneme and Koko are at their parent's house and they won't be coming back for three more days. _

_Really sorry Sakura-san. _

_Best regards, Ruka._

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Say what?

"They all left me here? How could they?" she shouted dramatically.

And she finally knew that the drinking thing was Tono's idea all along! Tch, and he even escaped to Hokkaido with Ruka. She swore she was going to give him a good punch when he came back later. Cunning womanizer. And stupid Tsubasa-senpai. How could he forget about his own kouhai and desert her like this?

Mikan puffed her cheeks and had the urge to rip the note apart. Déjà vu, or whatever they called it. "_Sheesh!_ I hate being alone!" she whined.

But that's wrong too. In case you've paid complete attention to the note, someone, someone very dangerous was not listed in the list of people who were gone. You must have known who he was, right?

"You're not alone you know," a voice drawled, "_polkadots_."

Speak of the devil. . .

* * *

Mikan squirmed nervously in her seat; beads of sweat were running at the back of her head. Why was she so nervous you ask? Simple.

It's because of a certain raven-haired lad. Did that ring a bell?

Yup, it's because of Natsume.

He—the cranky man who was obviously mad at her last night, was now sitting on the sofa, both of his feet rested on the edge of it. His face was stoic, reading his trade-mark manga while ignoring everything around him.

Mikan didn't expect anything like this. She completely forgot that Natsume was not going anywhere, so she'd be at least staying in this mansion, for three days, alone with him! That thought alone managed to make her blush a thousand shades of red and she immediately slapped herself mentally for thinking about it!

Well, at least she didn't have to wait for five days. It's a good thing that Koko and Kitsuneme were coming home earlier than expected. Things would be awkward between her and Natsume. Especially, after recalling that he was angry at her for no reason. Now that you think about it, why was he so angry at her again?

She swirled her head and narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him, putting her fingers under her chin, stroking it slowly just like a detective making a conclusion. The only different thing was the fact that she was not a detective and had way too low of an IQ to be one.

Ironic, wasn't it?

Okay, back to the topic. So Mikan was obviously staring at Natsume, observing him up and down and studied his every movement.

Unbeknownst to her, Natsume noticed this.

With the snapped on a finger, Natsume's eyes clashed with hers and they stared for a brief second before Natsume broke the silence. "What're you staring at polkadots?" he raised his brows.

She flushed. Did she really stare at him for so long—?

"Yes you were staring." He rolled his eyes. "It was very obvious."

Mikan snarled lowly and muttered, "I'm not staring you moron, who wants to stare at a pervert like you anyway?"

And then Natsume smirked. He freaking smirked.

Mikan blinked. Really, was this Natsume? He was well . . . Unexpectedly calm, way calm to be true. Yesterday he was growling like a tiger and now he's acting all calm? Seriously.

"Hey, Hyuuga. Did men have a _period_ too?" she blurted out, but immediately clasped her mouth closed after realizing what she has said.

Natsume _almost_—instantly widened his crimson orbs. He growled at her and put his manga down, now completely focusing his gaze on the stupid girl in front of him. With an irritated yet completely amused smirk plastered on his face, he asked, "What made you think that _men_ can have a _period_, polkadots?"

Mikan puffed her cheeks again at the nickname. "Hyuuga, cut the nickname!" she protested, "And yes. Seeing as you have constant mood swings every day. That made me wonder whether you're straight or not."

Natsume scowled and his lips tugged down. "Are you saying that I'm gay?" he mentioned, "And said the girl who had mood swings even worse than a pregnant woman."

Mikan twitched and her mouth formed a sarcastic smile. "I'm not pregnant. Thank you very much."

Natsume rolled his eyes at her sarcastic remark and knotted a smug grin on his face, "Lame sarcasm you got there, polkadots. And to answer your absolutely idiotic question, we don't have a period. That's _disgusting._ No, that's _sick_."

Mikan shrugged. "Just wondering, there's nothing wrong about asking is there?" she alleged curtly.

"Nothing wrong with it," Natsume answered, but as he saw the grin on Mikan's face, he continued, "But of course if the question were from you, you just wasted your curiosity on something that even preschoolers could answer."

Okay, he was back to the old Natsume. "Preschoolers don't know anything about period you pervert!" Mikan bawled, "They're too young to even understand what a period is!"

"But they'll have to understand it, someday, somehow."

"Ew, just stop talking about periods okay? It's getting uncomfortable, talking about this stuff with a guy, not to mention, I'm currently facing the most perverted man in the whole entire universe."

"_You're_ the one who started asking."

They glared at each other and Mikan finally turned her head back. Natsume felt something fishy about her so he was about to ask, but the sound of her stomach roaring clearly erased his intentions of asking. The glutton was hungry, that's why she wasn't able to retort back.

Suddenly, Mikan turned her head, face flushed and a scowl, painted on the face very clearly. "You heard that didn't you?" she asked, voice trembling.

Natsume's lips curved up to an amused smirk. "No, I heard nothing," he replied. "Pig."

Mikan frowned and blushed deeper. "So you heard it after all!" she shrieked. Natsume wanted to laugh at her expression, at her stupid idiotic antics. I mean, who wouldn't?

"Come on, let's get a cook before you're able to touch anything and blow up the kitchen." He managed to keep his stoic face. Needless to say, he couldn't really keep his smirk from appearing, and Mikan noticed this.

Therefore, she chattered her teeth in embarrassment and defeat.

And she made a mental note to ask her mother how to cook before she could embarrass herself any further in the future.

* * *

Cold. Weak. Annoyed. Frustrated. Dizzy.

Hyuuga Natsume was feeling that at the same time? Seems impossible? Nope, it was not impossible. The fact that Mikan had accidentally splashed the water to his face was too unpredictable. As keen as he was, he couldn't help but to not notice the water and dodge it. He was, after all, a human. He too could get something like cold. He wasn't able to get a good night sleep and his mind was fully tired. Thanks to a certain loud-mouthed idiot and her acts.

"Umm. . . Hyuuga, I'm so, so, sorry!" Mikan apologized.

Natsume twitched.

He could see the annoying grin that was threatening to spread on her face. Hell, he could even hear light giggles escaped from her mouth. "What's so funny polkadots? This was your fault," he spat coldly. His cheeks were wet, but that made him look like a boy—_cute_ little boy.

That was it.

Mikan exploded with laughter; tears were rolling down her cheek and her cheeks were pink and flushing. Her smile was tugging widely, her chimes of laughter felt melodic. Natsume felt something beat inside his body. This was the first time he saw her smile truly, and not a sarcastic nor a bitter one. Her smile was . . . beautiful. But of course he wouldn't admit that.

Never ever.

He snapped out his thoughts and was about to pinch her cheek for laughing too long for his own liking, after all, he was embarrassed too. "Shut it polka," he hissed and touched her cheek, preparing to pinch it. But what made him dazed was the movement of his own hands that were starting to caress her cheek, feeling the smooth porcelain skin sent him sparks of contentment.

It felt nice, if she was not too stubborn.

Mikan stopped laughing and tensed. They stared at each other, before Mikan broke their gaze and started to look uncomfortable. Natsume noticed this, as his crimson orbs darkened immediately.

He noted her hazel eyes, which were starting to look scared every time he touched her. He felt a pang in his heart; a feeling of prickling that tightened in his chest. The feeling was really foul and this was just like yesterday.

He had to cool himself down for one night and let his mind drift to be able to act upon his senses again. Even that morning, when Ruka had told him that he and Mikan were going to be left alone, he felt like snapping at his own best friend. It wasn't enough though.

And she also tensed at the time when he touched her. She was scared of him after all.

"H-Hyuuga," she squeaked. "Get your hands off my cheek."

Natsume glared. "What's wrong with that? Can't I touch you?"

Natsume's hand moved to her chin; tilting it up slightly so she could meet eye to eye with him. There was no escape.

Mikan sighed and slapped his hands away. "You're the one who's wrong! You're too unpredictable!" Her glare turned colder.

He flinched. "Dammit. Why am I unpredictable?" he growled.

Mikan hovered over him and flushed. "You're angry, then you're teasing me, then you're turning sweet again! What are you implying at? Stop playing will you?"

"But I'm not playing!"

"Oh yeah? Then can you be at least as gentle as Ruka? He ki—" She stopped her words instantly and how she regretted saying those words.

Oh no, what was she saying? The fact that Hyuuga was angry with her was bad enough and she just have to make it even worse. The hurt and rejection that formed on his face the moment after she said those words were like arrows that pierced through her heart.

She had hurt him.

"H-Hyuuga. I-I'm sorry, d-don't mind me, I don't know what I'm sayi—"

"You and Ruka were kissing."

She shook her head. "No, it was not like that! Please, don't misunderstand!"

Natsume ignored her shouting and walked towards her, his bangs covered his eyes; emotions unseen. Mikan felt like trembling as she walked backwards, but her back touched the wall. She was trapped.

"H-Hyuuga."

"What did you and Ruka do?" his cold voice spoke. Mikan didn't reply as she directed her gaze towards the floor, avoiding his gaze but she could still feel that he was angry. "Listen, Hyuuga. Me and Ruka—"

Before Mikan was able to react, Natsume's fingers started to trail on her hair. Her body froze. What's he doing? If he touched her hair, moreover her—

_Clip._

Too late. Natsume took her clip and tangled it on his parted lips. Mikan felt her heart thump faster. He tucked on her locks, but his movements stopped. He saw a bluish reddish mark on her earlobe. Evident as ever, his mind reached out to a conclusion.

"What is that, _Mikan_?" he murmured darkly.

She looked up when he called her name. That was the first time he called her name, and she felt herself weaken in the knees, again. And crap, he was pissed alright.

"T-That? What?" she stuttered. Natsume's crimson orbs flared even more. "Don't pretend like you don't know. What the heck is this?" he hissed as his fingers trailed over her swollen ear.

"H-Hyuuga, please." Her voice was too low to be heard. "You're scaring me."

Natsume's bangs were finally moved and she could see his furious crimson eyes. "So you're afraid of me, yet when Ruka kissed you, you felt nothing?"

"No, it's not like that! He was drunk!"

"I don't care," he growled and slammed his body to hers closely. His mouth traveled to her ear, and his eyes noted the mark Ruka had given to her. "I won't let Ruka have you," he whispered to her ear.

"Hyuuga! Stop—"

Her words were stopped as she felt Natsume nip her other ear. She felt a jolt of electricity running down her spine. Her chest was hammering, and she knew that Natsume could hear it too. But this was wrong. This was bad. She tried to struggle and gave him some punches but instead of backing away, Natsume ignored her punches that had no effect, and licked her earlobe for the last time.

It hadn't ended yet.

"Since Ruka kissed you," he uttered while kissing her jaw. Mikan didn't have enough strength to push him even if she wanted to. But she didn't. She simply couldn't. It's like she was mesmerized by his touch. It was driving her crazy. She really wanted it to stop. But he made it harder every time she wanted to curse him. He was just too _cunning_.

"Hyuuga, let go—"

"I will take you as well," he implied as their noses touched. Through her blurry eyes, she could feel Natsume's hot breath brushed her cold skin. She could feel the spark when his warm cheek touched her cold one. He neared her lips to hers, preparing himself to _feel_ her.

* * *

A/N : Hello dear readers! How are you? Sorry for not updating in such a long time, precisely for two weeks. Well, I've practically meditated for my subjects and I had good marks! My math was terrific! I am so happy, like flying in the air! This chapter was a token of my happiness. Um, and I guess many of you suspected that it was Natsume who saw Mikan right? But I want to make it different, like having a twist. Hahaha…. Sorry! :D

Thanks for your supports guys. Thanks for those who review/alert/favorite –ed my story! You guys rock! ^^ Review, please?

_The Lonely Serenade_


	6. Wavering Emotions

**Winter Holiday Gone Wrong**

_Written by The Lonely Serenade_

**Disclaimer : Do not own this awesome manga, but the plot? Sure I do.**

Day 6 — Wavering Emotions

He could feel her trembling underneath his touch; he could feel that she was closing her eyes in desperation, not anticipation. The fact made his blood boil more. What made her so afraid of him? What made him so different from Ruka? Heck, she wasn't complaining or anything when Ruka kissed her, so why _him_?

_That's because she likes Ruka, not you._

Dammit, shut up, stupid mind. He had the impression that the idiot girl had a crush on Ruka, and not him alright. But the fact that he, himself, had a crush on the girl, he did _not_ like the fact that she had been kissed by another man, moreover, his _best friend_.

"H-Hyuuga, please." She sputtered,"You're scaring me."

He felt his heart sink and he managed to purr out a growl. The hell with it, didn't she know that she was making him even angrier? She was afraid of _him_, not of _Ruka_. With the last stroke of patience, he let out an answer, that was heard to be more like a hiss. "So, you're afraid of me, yet when Ruka kissed you, you felt nothing?"

"No, it's not like that, he was drunk!" Mikan retorted with the same expression, _fear._

Tch, so if any guy kissed her when he was drunk she was fine with it? She was fine with any guy kissing her?

"I don't care," he was sure that he was growling, and with the last effort, he tried to push her as gently as possible, but it resulted more like slamming his body to hers closely. But he liked the feeling, the feeling that she was close to _him_. His mouth travelled to her ear, and his eyes noted the mark Ruka had given her. Somebody marked her.

He felt the last line of patience had broken.

Screw you damn patience.

"I won't let Ruka have you," he whispered to her ear.

"Hyuuga! Stop—"

Her words were stopped as he nipped her ear. He could hear her fast beating and he couldn't help but be proud of it. Damn, why did she have to be blessed with the kind of ear that was too delectable to nip? Why did she have to be like this? He felt her struggle and give him punches, which to him felt like weak touches. He ignored the feeling and looked at her bruised ear. He neared his lips to her swollen ear, and licked it with affection.

"Since Ruka kissed you," he uttered while kissing her jaw; her smooth jaw that he longed to touch.

"Hyuuga, let go—"

"I will take you as well," he implied as their noses touched. He will not let any other guy have her lips, her lips were his, and nobody else could ever taste it. _Simple as that_.

He prepared himself to feel her. The sight of her lips were enough to make his damn hormones go crazy, he couldn't imagine what it'd be like to taste her fully.

"Hyuuga, I said let go!" she screamed.

She stomped on his foot and Natsume winced at the sudden pressure on his right foot. He was sure that it would form a bruise. His crimson eyes fidgeted on Mikan, and he felt a smirk coming to his face. She was stuttering and her hair was messy. Her rosy cheeks were glowing brightly, her ears that were just nipped by him, the sight was really paradise to him. It had shown his possessiveness.

But of course he felt disappointed that he couldn't taste those lips, and he unconsciously let out a grunt.

Mikan's ear perked up and she finally directed her gaze to him. Her face made another blushing expression, and he sure could see steam coming out from her ears.

It was rather _cute._

"Perverted creep! I will not let you steal my second kiss!" she shrieked while shielding herself under the table.

Pffffft.

So the little girl hasn't experienced her second kis— Wait, what? _Second_ kiss? He narrowed his crimson eyes and clenched his fists tightly. The conclusion that he got: Polkadots had experienced her first kiss. He felt another surge of emotion racing up to his head, and he knew that it was not good. It was _bad_.

"_Second kiss_?" he growled and he moved his feet from his place, not bothering even if his right foot was twitching badly. Mikan made a squeaky sound as she felt Natsume's rage. She couldn't see his eyes but she was sure that it was blazing with fury. She even had the chair to shield her.

"Polkadots, did you say _second kiss_?" he grunted and squatted as he finally made his way to the table where Mikan was hiding. Mikan swallowed hard and her head moved up and down. Slowly, she crept out from under the table and stood up. Natsume followed her lead and she silently cursed him for that.

"Uh, um, yeah, second kiss. Ugh, y-yeah, w-whatever," she muttered and walked to the door. Natsume took another long step and grabbed her arm, "Who?" he asked, voice menacing with dryness.

"Um, some person, errr, guy. Yeah," she gulped and slapped his hands away, attempting to get away. She sighed in relief as her palms touch the door knob.

She was like, '_Halelujah, I praise you Lord!'_

But the thoughts shattered because she felt strong arms drape her from behind. She could feel warm breaths on her ear. Natsume was hugging her, very tightly.

"Natsume?" she uttered weakly. Her heart had started to hammer harder, louder, as he moved his lips to speak in a deep tone.

"I—don't, I'm going to kiss you," he stated as his grip tightens. "I think."

Mikan felt her mind was blank, but for another good second, she finally digested what Natsume had said and gasped. _You think? What the hell are you saying?_

She struggled from his grip, and shockingly, Natsume let her go. She turned her head to see his expression, but it was covered by his bangs.

Ugh, she had the mental urge to cut those bangs. Didn't it make him feel irritated? Those bangs were really annoying.

"I-I'm going back, call me if there's anything wrong." Mikan's back faced him and she slammed the door behind.

Natsume just stood there for five minutes after Mikan slammed the door on his face. He just stood there, like a frozen statue. But his mind was a different thing. You'd be amazed to grasp what the lad was thinking.

Hell, he just successfully made her even more scared of him. Congratulations Hyuuga Natsume, you just made yourself even luckier!

. . . . . . . _Dammit_.

It was not his fault, technically. It was polkadot's fault for being so. . . Irresistab—annoying. Yeah, _annoying_.

Twitch.

He could feel a headache coming to his mind.

Twitch.

His face was burning hot.

Twitch.

Sakura Mikan was a disease to the calmness of his soul. She was driving him crazy. The nerve of that girl, making him like this.

Why did _she_, have to be his temptation?

* * *

_Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump._

Oh shut up you stupid heart! Stop beating so fast!

Mikan snorted out a breath and slumped on her bed. She buried her head in her pillow and hugged Mr. Bear tightly. She couldn't believe that she was just touched by Natsume, her enemy. Well, not really, she'd like to be friends with him. It's just. . . He was making it hard, so hard. Oh, and she was also mortified of her own response to him. She was slowly falling into his trap!

Especially after the earlier occurrence, she predicted that their relationship would no longer be the same. He kissed her, not on the lips, no, but on her ear! Freaking ear! Heck, she even blurted out her deepest secret that no one else had ever known. Not even Hotaru. Now the guy knew that she already had her first kiss, but that was when she was in elementary, it was an innocent kiss.

She sighed and twirled her hair. Hyuuga really was confusing. One time he can be evil and mean, the next, he'd turn all angry and sweet at the same time. God knows if the guy was really straight. Nonetheless, she blushed at the sensation that was tingling on the tips of her ear.

She should forget all of this and act normal! It was Hyuuga's fault for making her like this, she _never _felt like this before!

Mikan rested by closing her eyes, spreading her arms and legs wide. Her thoughts were heavy and still confused. Slowly, she felt her eyelids become heavier, and the next minute, light snores could be heard from her room.

* * *

Tokyo in the evening was truly beautiful. The lights illuminating the town, chatters and the orange sunset color that was painting the sky; everything felt so right. A brunette was seen, sleeping soundly and peacefully, her body was curled up on the bed, her hair sputtered messily. Add the dim light of her room to make her look like a baby angel.

Her eyelids fluttered, revealing a pair of drowsy hazel eyes. She yawned and rubbed her eyes while her hands reached out for the clock beside her table.

Her eyes widened as she saw the numbers.

07:30 PM.

Merlin's Beard! She was asleep for five hours? She was sure she never took an afternoon nap since middle school, but now she had. Dammit! She hadn't taken a bath, ate, and her bed was a mess.

Quickly, she took a short, brief shower and dashed to the dining room. As she walked towards the dining from, she felt herself twitch. Oh yeah, nobody was making dinner since everybody was gone, leaving herself with the perverted jerk. Speaking of the pervert, where was he?

She decided to check up on him first, but as soon as she arrived in front of his door, her feet were glued permanently on the floor. She was still nervous about today and what if he attacked her again?

Her eyes travelled down and she gulped as she saw that she was only wearing a thin piece of tank top and shorts. Hell no, she wouldn't take risks.

She should have been going in Natsume's room, asking what to eat for dinner and all, but instead, she took a short trip back to her room to wear a jacket, well, in her mind, at least to cover her upper part.

She knocked on his room, and waited for him to open it.

. . . . . . .

The brunette lifted one of her brows and knocked once more, this time louder.

. . . . . . .

She knocked again, this time, louder and harder.

. . . . . . .

With the last effort, she knocked, no—banged his door and shouted, "Oi, Hyuuga! Open the door will you?"

She heard a growl and a grunt coming from inside the room. She, of course, snorted bitterly and rolled her eyes.

"Just come in polkadots, the door's not locked." His voice sounded lower than usual. Her curiosity perked up but she shoved it away. She opened the door and was surprised by the temperature of the room.

It was freezing cold! What was the guy thinking, using a cooler in this stupid winter season? Did he want to freeze to death?

She flicked her eyes to analyze the messy room and wrinkled her nose at the sight of his messy clothes. God, boys were boys. No matter what happened and no matter where she was, all the boys around were always like this. Lazy and dirty.

Ugh, good thing she didn't live with Ryuuki anymore; she couldn't stand washing his dirty socks all the time and whenever she came to his room, she could smell his dirty sweat shirt and could see them tangled whilst his bed sheets lay carelessly on the floor for the world to see.

She chuckled at her memory.

Mikan shook her thoughts away and her gaze finally landed on the man that was sleeping on the bed, his blanket covering his body, just below his neck. Mikan laughed humorlessly at him and walked towards the bed.

"Come on sleepy head, wake up!" she ordered gruffly but she gasped as soon as she lifted up his blanket. Blood rushed through her veins and her face started to flush. Why? Because Natsume's _upper_ _part_ was seen.

Natsume's crimson eyes hardened and he glared at her. He grabbed the blanket back from her and covered his body. "Don't be such a pervert, polkadots," he grunted coldly.

Mikan felt herself twitching and she really wanted to strangle the lad right there, right then. "A pervert? Speak for yourself jerk! What kind of person who would actually sleep without their clothes on this bloody season?" Mikan retorted back heatedly.

Natsume just closed his eyes and ignored Mikan who was rambling on her own.

"Hey, do you hear me? I said, at least put your clothes on and don't stay naked like that! I happen to be a girl you know."

"Shut up, you're too noisy," he mumbled—more like whispered. "And please, I'm not naked. I still have my pants on."

Mikan glared daggers at him for making up jokes before she sighed heavily and put on a grim expression. "Listen here jerk, I don't know what's wrong with you, but are you sic—"

". . . . ."

Mikan stopped speaking after she touched Natsume's forehead. Her mouth hung open and she finally muttered, "You really are sick!"

Natsume managed to voice a snort and Mikan slapped his hand, but not that hard, after all, the boy _was_ sick and she _tried_ to be gentle.

"I am sick, and now for the convenience, can you please get out and stop bothering me?" he ordered.

Mikan rolled her eyes and sat beside him. Natsume felt a weight press on his bed. He looked from the corner of his eyes and an amused smirk formed on his flushed face.

"So little girl is going to take care of me?" he teased.

Mikan was annoyed slash amazed by how he was able to tease her even when he was in the worst condition. He really was a mystery. "Shut up, sick boy, I'm good enough to pity you so just be a good boy and listen to me."

Natsume snort. "Yeah right, and the next day, I'll be taken to the hospital and treated in the ICU room."

"Will you just be quiet? I'm good at taking care of people," she grinned proudly and walked towards the door.

". . . . ."

"You don't believe me, do you Hyuuga?" she asked in annoyance.

"Do I look like I believe you?" he replied sorely.

Mikan turned the knob, but stopped to show him an annoyed smile. "In case you didn't know," she mentioned wryly, "I'm cautious of my safety too, _smart ass_. Who knows what you'll do to me, even when you're sick."

And she just slammed the door on him, again.

* * *

Mikan sighed in defeat. God, the person she was currently taking care of was pampered alright. She didn't know if it was because of his fever or because he was that egoistic. What kind of person, a seventeen year old boy might I add, still refused to eat medicine? He should have known that he was sick.

Newsflash: Sick people eat medicine.

But no, instead of obeying her orders, he spat out the tablets, on HER FACE!

She heard him grunt and she shut her lips wryly. Was it just her or did Hyuuga tend to grunt a lot when he was sick?

"Are you trying to kill me, little girl?"

She swayed her head and glared at him. "For your information, Hyuuga—" she pointed at the medicine, "this is supposed to help you feel better so you have to drink it!"

"But that medicine tastes like soot; it reminds me of your cooking."

Mikan was sure there were more than ten veins popping on her head. The damn... how dare he bring up that matter again! And worst of all, when he was sick, so she _couldn't_ _hurt_ him!

And when she said hurt, it meant more than punching.

"Look, drink those meds, and eat the porridge I bought, okay?"

Natsume smirked. "You bought it? Are you sure?"

Mikan clenched her fists, teeth chattering to redeem the anger that was increasing every minute. "Yeah, I _bought_ it."

"Good thinking, I don't want to experience severe illness just because I ate your cooking."

Mikan sat on his bed and furrowed her brows. "Eat and don't complain."

Natsume's scowl darkened before it tugged into an annoying, smug grin, that clearly stated, _'Oh-really?-Why-should-I?'_

"If you wanted to get better, then eat. God, I swear you're more troublesome than Ryuki when he was sick," Mikan alleged coldly.

Natsume scoffed and looked at the porridge. "Fine, I'll eat. . . "

Mikan looked at him, obviously surprised. "Really?"

Natsume's smirk turned brighter. "Uh huh, but you have to—"

"If you say that I have to feed you then no, I won't. I'll do _anything _except for that." She shook her head vigorously.

He clicked his tongue in amusement and he said in a clipped tone, "I'm not going to ask you to feed me. I just want you to sit on my lap while I'm eating."

Mikan glared harder.

"But since you said you're going to do _anything_ except for feeding me," he drawled slyly, "of course, you have no choice but to sit on my lap."

Mikan's eyes were wide as a saucer and she started stuttering. "W-W-What? But—"

"After all, you said _anything,_" he retorted curtly.

Mikan felt her heart slump and she was making a puppy dog expression. "Do I really have to do it? I don't mean it that way!" Her hazel eyes were begging for forgiveness.

Natsume narrowed his crimson eyes. "You know, you have to stop pouting and making that expression or I'll kiss you."

She blushed and looked away. _Damn smooth talker!_

"Now come here, you can't back from your words now can you?" He ticked her again. Mikan huffed and pressed her arms to push her weight on the bed. "Fine, I'm going to do it!"

* * *

Natsume smirked. Mikan gaped.

"I can't believe you're doing that again!" Mikan's shrieks echoed throughout the room.

Natsume shrugged and rested on his pillow. "I'm resting polkadots, so shut your voice and stop interfering with my peacefulness."

Mikan crackled with fury and hurriedly grabbed a tissue to wipe her wet jaw and neck. "How dare you lick me, again!"

"But that was an accident; grab a hold of it, will you?"

Mikan snorted. "Accident my ass! You intended to do it from the first place, didn't you?"

Oh my, what a conversation. Now dear readers, want to know what really happened throughout the time when Mikan was sitting on Natsume's lap. Let's take a look at the flashback, shall we?

Flashback

Mikan squirmed restlessly on Natsume's lap. Her hands were touching his chest, which was by the way, uncovered! How can this guy be so blunt? Heck, he was eating porridge, and she hadn't eaten anything today. Of course, her stomach was growling like a tiger because of it. The smell of the porridge especially tempted her to snatch the spoon from him and dig in for herself. How can she be so stupid to not order for herself?

Curse you, brain! She must've thought about him too much. Eh, now that you think about it, she was too kind too him!

"You're hungry, aren't you?" his throaty voice asked from above.

Mikan looked down and muttered, "Thanks for stating the obvious."

"Well, you could have it if you want. I'm full already," he stated, and he put the bowl back on the table. Mikan was about to reach for the spoon, but Natsume's hand prevented her.

"Now what?" she hissed impatiently.

"Slow down polkadots," he drawled. "I'll give it to you if you let me feed you."

Mikan sighed and crossed her arms. "Do I have another choice?"

Natsume could only smirk in return and mouthed 'No'.

She glared. "Fine, but don't you dare molest me or anything, you got that?"

"Sure—" he dipped the spoon to the porridge, and was about to give it to her mouth when, "—ohh, it fell down." Natsume _accidentally_ slapped the spoon, to her jaw!

She gasped and whimpered a little at the hot sensation. Her hazel eyes darkened and she immediately growled at him. "The hell! What was that for? Clean this up instantly, jerk!"

Oh yeah, his plan worked, _smoothly_. He grabbed her chin and lifted it up. Mikan's eyes bulged open and she glared at him as a response. "Let go of me!" she struggled but her hands were stopped by Natsume.

"What? I'm going to clean it for you idiot," he answered bluntly.

She glared holes at him. "How will you do tha—"

_Lick. _

. . . . . She froze. _What the hell?_

"That's how I clean it, _idiot,_" he whispered as his hands reached to grab her waist. Mikan's mouth gaped open, still frozen on the spot. Oh God, don't tell her this was happening! Don't tell her that he had licked her, again!

"Oh yes I did, polkadots."

End of flashback

"Is it just me or are turning into a more annoying person when you're sick?" she mumbled wryly.

Natsume rolled his eyes and muttered, "But you enjoy it too, stu—pid."

Mikan pouted and huffed. Natsume just leaned back on the bed.

Her hazel eyes then looked up to his face, but she regretted doing that because instantly, she was trapped by those bloodshot eyes. Those crimson eyes that kept on staring at her with longing. Seriously, what's wrong with him? He was being strange again! Was he mad at her? But he didn't look mad, at least. "Umm, stop staring at me," she uttered.

Natsume shrugged and looked away. This time, it was her turn to absent-mindedly stare at him, analyzing his face and her gaze landed on his brows. Her hand unconsciously touched his face, and she removed his bangs to see them clearly. Her lips curved in an amused grin, giggling mentally at him. _He really did have short eyebrows!_

"Hey," Natsume started.

Mikan turned to look at him and smiled. "Yes?"

"Did Ruka kiss you?"

Mikan's heart beat wildly as she gazed into Natsume's eyes. Those eyes were sad, desperate for an answer.

She shook her head and sighed. "Hyuuga, I told you before right? Ruka and I never kissed. He didn't kiss me or anything. He was drunk so he didn't know what he's doing."

Natsume frowned. "Oh, okay."

As she realized where her hands are resting, she immediately blushed and was about to pull her hands away but Natsume prevented her from doing so.

"Keep your hand here," he mumbled.

Her heart almost burst out when he said that, _I mean, who wouldn't?_ Her mind screamed in panic. "Your hand was cold, it felt nice," she heard him mumbled again.

"Hyuuga?" Her voice turned to a squeak.

His eyes snapped open and he narrowed his crimson eyes at her. "I hate it when you call me that," he muttered sleepily. He was wondering what was wrong and he finally noticed it. It was his name. It's almost a month since she stayed here, so she shouldn't be too formal and call him by his name instead of his surname, right? And besides, Hyuuga sounded weird to his ears.

Mikan blinked, and crinkled her brows confusedly. _What is he talking about? _

"It's Natsume," he muttered again. "Not Hyuuga."

Natsume finally closed his lids and she could hear his soft snores. She swirled her head to look away from him and as a result, she met up with her blushing reflection on the mirror. Her cheeks were crimson red, and she couldn't and didn't want to believe that Hyuuga just asked her something that embarrassing!

Oh Lord. She had had enough problems with sick people.

With the last brief bout of self-esteem she had, she stroked Natsume's hair gently—feeling slightly embarrassed and whispered, "Good night and get well soon . . . _Natsume._"

With that, she felt herself yawning again. Slowly, she fell asleep with her hand on Natsume's cheek and her head on his bed.

Unknown to her, Natsume was _not yet_ asleep, and hell, he bet that a _silly_, _disgustingly goofy grin_ was spreading on his face.

Natsume, huh?

Now that, sounded good and just right to his ears.

* * *

To say that he had a good sleep was an understatement. He had an enjoyable one, especially when you had a certain loud-mouthed idiot beside you. Well, not really, but her head _was_ sleeping on _his _bed.

He grinned at yesterday's occurrence, and he slapped himself mentally for grinning like an idiot. Again. At least his mood has been lifted to a good one.

Gently, she lifted the sleeping girl from her deep slumber and carried her back to her own room. She must have been so tired, taking care of him like that, he thought. He chuckled at her drooling face, and put Mikan to her own bed.

"Thanks—" He looked at her hitched shorts, revealing you-know-what. "Teddy bears."

He was about to kiss her lips whilst she was asleep, but he stopped his intention and sighed.

He kissed her forehead and a soft glint was seen on his crimson eyes for a brief second, which later returned to the same cold, stoic one.

Well, for now, a kiss on the forehead should be enough.

He glimpsed at the girl and grunted at her. Mikan Sakura should congratulate herself because she was able to get the great Natsume Hyuuga's affection.

And some part of Natsume's heart did notice that it was not a mere crush.

* * *

A/N : I'm back! I know that I haven't updated this story in three weeks! Gasp-) Time sure flies, huh? But actually, I was planning to update this fic one week ago, but me and my family were going to Japan! I can't believe it too, Japan!

The source of all animes and mangas, my dreamland! Sooo, I've came back from Japan, much to my annoyance, and I've bought all series of Gakuen Alice's manga! Yeay! For all of you Japanese out there, I love your country so much!

Anyway, this is getting really long, but ehm. Mid-terms were coming next week, ah, I mean this week, so my next update will be two weeks from now!

Special thanks for those who read/review/favorite/alert –ed my story!

So . . . As an encouragement for my exams, please review? Pretty please?

_The Lonely Serenade_


	7. Unexpected Surprise

**Winter Holiday Gone Wrong**

_Written by The Lonely Serenade_

_The greatest weakness of most humans is their hesitancy to tell others how much they love them while they're still alive_ — Orlando A. Battista

**Disclaimer : GA and their characters do not belong to me, okay?**

Chapter 7 — Unexpected Surprise

It was a chilly morning, and a girl with long auburn hair was calmly sleeping, her mind wandered somewhere that other people couldn't possibly think of. The girl groaned lightly as she felt a weight press on to her body, making her squirm uncomfortably on her bed.

Through her half-open lids, she saw the holy light that was brightening the morning, faint sounds of the birds chirping, which was annoying her, so she buried her head even more.

An attempt to wake Sakura Mikan was never an easy task.

Mikan stretched up again, a shiver ran down her spine at the cold weather; and she squeaked loudly when her blanket was being pulled up by someone. Instantly, her eyes snapped open, glaring dazedly at the person who dared to interrupt her beauty sleep. _Yeah right. . ._

Visions of the color of crimson splashed into her head and she didn't have to ask who the person was. She knew only one person, probably in the whole universe, who had the color of crimson as their orbs—of course that was an exception for the vampires, anyway, again, the only person who had the color of crimson as their orbs was none other than Hyuuga Natsume.

She felt her heart slumped when her mind clicked in. The guy was already messing with her in the morning.

"Natsume, get out of my room. If you don't, I'll kick your balls and screech or do anything to make you unmovable for a while," her voice was awfully cold and annoyed.

Instead of hearing the usual snorts or scoffs, Mikan found herself blinking at the sight of another pair of crimson orbs, which were slightly bigger than Natsume's.

She done the most usual thing a person do when they found themselves looking at an unfamiliar figure standing on their room.

She screamed.

* * *

Okay. She was still sane right? She couldn't be wrong, right? Were her eyes deceiving her? Was that an illusion? No, it couldn't be. The person looked real.

She rubbed her eyes rapidly; shaking her head, slapping her cheeks and did many incoherent things to wake her up from this state of reverie. The first question that came to her mind: Who is she?

The person looked like the exact replica of Natsume. You know, raven hair, crimson eyes, beautiful face. It all fit in. But the person standing in front of her was a female!

A freakin' female.

Did Natsume have a twin or something?

Nah—that was impossible. She recalled that Ruka had told her once that Natsume only has a little sis—

. . . . Wait a minute. Could she be Natsume's little sister? Aoi? Somehow, she did look like her. But if she was not, then Mikan herself must've been having some demented dreams.

Lucky for her, the female person giggled, and she felt relieved knowing that she was not having some demented dreams.

When she was going to approach the still giggling girl, she didn't see the blanket that was carelessly sprawling on the ground. The blanket was the innocent villain, and Mikan herself was the victim of such innocence.

She tripped.

Now she was sure that the giggles turned into a series of maniacal laughter; but she didn't care. Mikan laughed along with the person. Heck, she just made a fool of herself in front of a stranger that she didn't know, and the stranger could be Natsume's sister.

"I'm sorry; people tend to tease me for my clumsiness." Mikan started a conversation.

The stranger stopped laughing and smiled sweetly; extending her hands to help Mikan stand from the cold floor. "That's alright; your clumsiness fits your cute face. I'm happy that I could finally talk to you."

Mikan raised her brows. "Do I know you?"

The person shook her head. "No, but I hear you a lot from the letters that Ru-chan sent to me."

"Ru-chan?"

"Yes, by the way, my name is A—"

"Aoi!"

Both head turned to the speaker and Mikan was partially dumbfounded. Now she was having doubts whether she was having a dream or not. What in the world was Ruka doing here? She thought Ruka had gone to Hokkaido? What was it about again? Oh yeah, to pick up something important.

Ruka was not alone; a familiar figure was there too.

"Ruka-kun and Tono. What're you doing here?" Mikan asked wryly.

Ruka gulped whilst Tono offered her his so called charming smile. "Well, Mikan. Meet Hyuuga Aoi, Natsume's—"

"My little sister, polkadots." A husky voice spoke from behind Ruka.

Thus, Mikan rolled her eyes and stated dryly. "Oh, hello Natsume."

Natsume smirked. "What's with the long face, polka?"

* * *

Though Aoi was a constant victim of Natsume's fists, she loved her older brother dearly. He cared for her; she knows that. He hushed other boys away from her; she knew that. But she never knew that his brother has actually grew and harbored feelings for another girl. Never in her whole life had she seen Natsume with a playful expression like that. She couldn't actually blame him for that.

Most of the girls on their school was his fans. The other parts were those lesbians or gothic girls.

She found the girl in front of her interesting. She was beautiful, in spite of being on her pyjamas, Sakura Mikan was indeed charming, and she deserved to be with her brother more than anyone did.

"So, can I call you Mikan-chan?"

They were sitting on the sofa to clear all the confusions and misunderstandings that were lingering before.

Mikan, in response, beamed at her. "Of course, in return, may I call you Aoi-chan?"

Aoi clasped her hands in agreement, squealing like a hyena while hugging her brother's arms. "Natsume, you never told me that you had such a wonderful friend! I'm not surprised that Ru-chan's been blabbering all about her in the letters he sent!"

This statement made Mikan blush.

Natsume narrowed his eyes. "Why'd I bother to tell you about her? She's just a stupid idiot who likes to show her panties."

Mikan glared. "You're the one who peeks at me, don't accuse other people for your mischief, jerk!"

Aoi grinned at the pair. They had chemistry between them after all. "Don't worry Mikan-chan. That's one of Natsume's traits to show his affection by teasing you."

This time Natsume glared at her. "Shut it Aoi. I've had enough headaches today, and I don't need two bubbly idiots to make it worse."

"You've never been sick, you always told me that." Aoi pointed out.

Mikan grinned mischievously. It seemed she had something to make fun of him. "Oh, you're wrong Aoi-chan. Natsume was having a fever yesterday and a high one too. Good thing I was there to help him."

Natsume rolled his eyes. "It was hardly called helping. You just made my fever worse; it was thanks to my immunes that I was able to cure faster. So don't flatter yourself."

"Oh, don't worry. I _am_ flattered."

Natsume was cursing wonderfully at his brain on how her goody goody two shoes act dispersed so quickly. He was influencing her with his smug attitude, and he didn't like it if she applied it to him. It was damn cunning. Everything that he had said earlier looked so amusing in her eyes.

"So, what're you doing here, Aoi?" he purposely changed the topic.

Aoi laughed. "Are getting you old, Natsume? It's November, and one week from now, it'll be your birthday!" she exclaimed, but then split her eyes in mockery. "Don't tell me you actually forgot about your own birthday?"

Natsume was a man with full of pride. "Of course I remember." _Smooth lie._

Mikan laid down on the couch and said with derision, "Oh, so you're having a birthday," she didn't look like she was excited, Natsume noted that himself.

"What? Planning on giving me some birthday presents?"

Mikan snorted. "As if, in your dreams, pervert."

Aoi was having a mental battle on her mind; the expression on her brother's face was priceless. She should take a picture of him now secretly, then she'd send it to their Mom. It'd be fun; but she'd have to pay the price of a fist from Natsume if he ever found out.

"Well, aren't you guys lovely?"

Natsume bristled. "Sure, we are, aren't we?"

"Your sarcasm was never amusing to me, pervert."

"You never wanted to admit it right, Sakura."

Aoi cleared her throat. "Anyway, I'm going to Ru-chan to talk about something. You guys have fun!"

She escaped from the still glaring couple. Pfft, why can't they just admit that they're in love with each other? Natsume's affection was pretty obvious, but it seems that Mikan had a long way to go before realizing that her brother was smitten with her. She sighed desperately.

Aoi saw Ruka in the kitchen, washing the dishes and she decided to help him. "Hey Aoi," Ruka greeted her.

"Hey, Ru-chan."

He heard the tone of her reply. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Aoi smiled. "No, nothing. I'm just curious about Natsume and Mikan's relationship. Are they always fighting like that?"

Ruka tensed. "Yes, did you notice it too?"

"Notice what?"

_She didn't know_. Ruka shook his head, "Never mind, I was just talking to myself."

Aoi was getting suspicious. "Do you love Mikan-chan?"

Target locked. "Of course not, she's just a friend. Besides, I think Natsume loves her." _That's why I decided to step back_.

"Oh."

* * *

Their glaring contest went on, even after Aoi had gone to the kitchen, none of them made another move from their seat. Both of their eyes were locked deeply at the other. Both companies hadn't given up yet. Not for this matter. Mikan finally decided to break up their eye contact. She could ever be herself whenever she looked into Natsume's eyes.

"Stop looking at me, Hyuuga."

This time Natsume hissed, "I thought we were over with surnames calling?"

Mikan laughed sarcastically. "Oh really? Why should I call you that, _Hyuuga_?"

"It's _Natsume_, not _Hyuuga_." His breath hitched. "You call Aoi by her first name when you just met her, so what's the difference with me?"

"She is a girl."

"And I'm a boy."

Mikan gestured her position and sighed. She had a feeling that this conversation was getting long. Pretty much, the act she revealed was unnecessary. But she was just disappointed. She thought that after that bonding they shared when she treated him, it was a sign that he wanted to open up more to her. He was the one who started it. Then he'd shoo her away like usual.

"Why didn't you even bother to tell me that your birthday was getting closer and closer? It seems that you haven't trusted me enough to even tell me your birthday. So why should I even bother to call you 'that'?"

Natsume smirked. So that's why she was angry.

"Because you'll blubber and make a big deal about it, just like little Aoi did."

Mikan fluttered. "I won't."

Natsume looked at her again.

"Fine, maybe I will!" she hissed, annoyed. "But that's just normal right? It is a birthday! An occasion that happens only once a year! So of course I'll make a deal about it!"

Natsume sighed. "You don't have to; besides, I think Aoi was planning something for me. You could join her if you want to."

Mikan's eyes brighten. "Really? I can?"

Natsume chuckled, surprisingly enough. "You do care about me after all. So, what are you going to give me for my birthday?"

"You're so cocky."

"But that's what makes me charming."

Mikan frowned. "Yeah, right. Reeeeaally charming."

"So, are we okay?" he smirked at her reaction.

Natsume was calling out a peace offering. It was pretty much unusual. Who knows if what was behind the peace offering was something unexpected.

But he was damn wrong about how her reaction would be. He thought that she'd shout at him or do anything that her little mind could think of, but no. Back again, he cursed fate for being such a bitch, as to make her his temptation. That was not his fault, it was fate's.

But he couldn't just blame fate for that.

He was supposed to blame her for this. Her smile was intoxicating, alluring him to his deepest temptation. Maybe, fate was being an angel because fate actually thought that Natsume deserved someone who had a smile like her. Her smile did manage to throw his scowl away. Maybe, he really needed her smile more often.

But couldn't she just notice that her smile was dangerous and infectious?

He sighed, raking his raven hair in salvation. Other boys might launch at her for showing such a smile, probably, they'd have devoured her lips already. But Natsume was different, he had self control. Who knows, that self control might actually snap sooner than he thought. No wonder Ryuki was so protective of her sister.

"Come here, polkadots."

Mikan glared. "Why, Natsume?"

Natsume actually showed her a little smile this time. She was calling him Natsume. "Fine, I'll go over there."

They were seated across each other.

"You know that opposites attract right?"

Mikan laughed. _Beautiful_. "What's with the corny line, Natsume?"

But her words soon turned into a yelp because Natsume's strong hands grab her waist, held her body and pulled her into a hug. Natsume was hugging her. He was hugging her instead of doing some perverted antics at her. She didn't care if his hands were embracing her so tightly that could put up into crushing; she just never felt Natsume act gentle like this. "So if I do something like this to you, my reasons are that," Natsume muttered.

"That?" Mikan whispered shyly. She was sure that her blushing face appeared again. _That stupid jerk for making her blush again!_

"Opposites attract." He answered.

"I know," she was smiling again. She never thought that Natsume could actually make her smile. All this time, she just thought of him as her arch nemesis. She never did look at him as something more. She'd have to reconsider that now. "Natsume."

He pulled away, and then frowned. "Why are you smiling?"

"Because I realized that you're not a jerk."

He scoffed. "Just make sure that you don't show that smile of yours to someone else."

Mikan made no protests for that. "I just don't smile to everyone."

That line alone made Natsume freeze, before he sighed in desperation. He was pretty sure that she was testing his level of sanity. "That'll do it."

* * *

"Are you sure that they're not dating Ru-chan?"

Aoi was dumbfounded by the scene that was playing in front of her. Ruka was amazed himself. Natsume, the sly fox. "I never knew about that either Aoi."

"A rather unexpected surprise," Ruka sighed. "If they're able to act honest, just then, maybe one of them will make a move."

"Then why don't we act as a cupid?"

Ruka smiled at Aoi's honest question. "Let's try then Aoi. Be a patient cupid, at that. Natsume was never the one who was honest in revealing his emotions."

"Oh don't worry Ru-chan," she grinned slyly. "I'm going to be the most patient and understanding cupid you've ever seen."

* * *

A/N: Well, I'm really sorry for the short chapter. I'm supposed to update this story one week ago, but my mid-terms was postponed until Wednesday. So yeah, I'm sorry if this was not much. But I was really touched that you guys are willing to wait. I promise I'll try to update even faster from now on.

Special thanks for reading this story. Please review and tell me what you think. Thanks for being an awesome reader! Uhh, really, please do review! :)

The Lonely Serenade


	8. Disagreements and Plans

**Winter Holiday Gone Wrong**

_Written by The Lonely Serenade_

Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice.

Day 8 — Disagreements and Plans

Mikan Sakura was happy, very happy.

Her hazel orbs were tinkling in joy, her cheeks were rosy red in spite of the cold weather, and a big grin spread across her beautiful face as she made her way towards the door, leaving her comfy room behind. She was in fact, very happy, and as a proof of that, she willingly woke up without destroying her alarm again. That's a miracle, really.

She could tell this to Hotaru and that best friend of hers would probably grace her with a thin smile and say, "Congratulations."

What made her really happy today?

That's because Tsubasa, Koko, and the twins had come home yesterday, and they told her that they've bought the decorations for Natsume's birthday when they were stopping by at the nearest mall, and she was grateful for that. Imagine what his reactions would be? She was pretty sure it was anything but angry.

So here she was, skipping happily as she hummed, her sweet voice echoed throughout the hall. She couldn't wait to see his happy expression. Natsume rarely smiles, though he had shown her some of his smiles before, but he was almost as impassive as Hotaru. She even told him that smiling helped wiping some of your wrinkles, but he just smirked to her and whispered that he didn't have wrinkles . . . yet.

Heck, she'd burst out laughing her ass off if she was there to see Natsume and . . . wrinkles.

At nights she would wonder if she would still be friends with him even if she was already old and grey. But she always shrugs the thoughts away and mused that she should enjoy what she had now in the present.

It didn't do any good to think about the uncertain; and besides, she had been on good terms with Natsume these days.

She even learned to call him by his first name, that's an improvement.

Yet, when she arrived in front of his room's door, she was staring blankly at the wooden furniture instead of knocking on it. She should knock . . . right? But she couldn't deny the fact that she was slightly afraid of the possible outcomes if she knocked upon the door of fate.

She winced. _Right, dramatic._

But still, she always ended up in an awkward position or accidents and it was always him who was involved with her. She didn't know if it was him who purposely made that to happen or God just wanted it to be that way.

After releasing a stressed sigh, she shook her head and her face lit up in determination. Here she goes . . .

"Natsume?" she knocked on the door.

No answer.

Sweat trickled down the back of her head while her imagination trailed on in her head like a train. Why was he not answering? Was he sick? What if he fainted? What if he was coughing blood and that he was too tired to even open the door? What if he was angry at her and didn't want to meet her? What if he was in pain right now and she couldn't do anything to help him?

She mustered all of her courage and turned the door knob as the round thing was being pulled by another force, not by her, and she stumbled towards the room for that. She gazed upon the floor and wondered why she didn't fall. Slowly, she lifted her face and met her gaze with Natsume's amused face and confused crimson eyes.

She blinked.

"Uhh . . . Natsume," she started; feeling flustered all of the sudden as her cheeks blushed in embarrassment.

He raised one of his brows. "Yes?"

Mikan started to squirm in her place and she blurted the only thing that came across her mind that time, "Good morning?"

Now it was his turn to blink at her before releasing an amused smirk she knew so well and she had learned to hate that smirk since the first day she had met him. "Good morning? What's with the formality?"

She cast him a silent glare but he was able to catch it, though. Frankly, as much as he loved to see her smile, the fun thing about Mikan Sakura was her stuttering and angry expression. She was too easy to tease; and he had seen her angry expression, not the stuttering yet. She stuttered for him when she was afraid, not embarrassed, and he unconsciously clenched his fist.

"Natsume? Why are you gritting your teeth?" she asked, her light voice brought him back out of his reverie.

He turned his back on her and walked, "No, nothing," he breathed and stopped before tilting his head back to see her face, "Aren't you going to come inside?"

Mikan sent him a grateful smile as she walked hurriedly, eager to get inside the warm room.

She closed the door and plopped herself to his bed, oblivious to the stare Natsume had given to her when she stretched out her arms and yawned, her mind was now beginning to get clouded when the warm sensation of his bed travelled through her entire body. She wanted to go back to bed and sleep.

She couldn't, no, not yet.

Natsume moved his feet to stand near her and sat on the nearby couch, his back resting as he folded his arms and tucked them behind his head. The usual bossy and arrogant pose.

"So," he spoke, his crimson eyes observed her, "What brings you here?"

She nodded and sat, her back was straight and she stared at him as she declared, "I'm waking you up. Every day, from now on."

And he was confused with her almighty declaration, but he was pleased to hear that from her, so he decided to play along. "Oh?" he smirked and muttered, "And why is that . . . ?"

She frowned, "Why?" Mikan narrowed her eyes, "Didn't Aoi tell you? Tsubasa said that he was getting tired of waking you up every day so he decided to trust the job to me."

Natsume's expression fell. "Oh," his 'oh' was different from the earlier. It was colder. "So that's it?"

The words made Mikan blushed again, this time redder, and this perked Natsume's interest. Maybe, that's not it after all. The reason she came here was for another thing.

"Actually," she hesitated, "I'm just going to tell you that the decorations that I've asked Tsubasa-senpai to buy for your birthday were downstairs."

Natsume smirked inwardly, "Are you the one who asked him to do that?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"Not Tsubasa or any other person?"

She was confused but nodded again. "Yes, why?"

"No, nothing," his tone was warmer and a small smile crept to his face, "I'm . . . _pleased_."

She twitched slightly at his statement, "Well, you better be because Aoi and I have spent countless nights on thinking what to buy for your birthday."

"Really?" he walked towards her and propped his right arm beside her seat, "And what did you buy for me?"

"That's a secret, obviously, you should find out yourself on the day of your birthday, which is three days from today," she panned wryly.

He mimicked his expression into one of disappointment, slightly mocking her as she stuck her tongue out. By that action, Natsume's crimson eyes noted dangerously on her tongue as incoherent thoughts began to wonder inside his mind. He really should pin her down and kiss her senselessly, yeah, that sounded like a good idea. _Very good indeed._

A knock on his door interrupted his imaginative mind, and his mind sighed in relief, slightly thanking whoever the person was. He had very little self-control over her.

"Natsume nii-chan?" the all too familiar voice made him slightly curse under his breath.

But then a sudden idea appeared on his mind and before neither he nor Mikan was able to comprehend what was happening, the auburn haired girl found herself being pinned to his bed and covered underneath him and his blanket, the scene was awfully familiar.

At the feeling of her warmness that gushed through him, he started to think on how brilliant this idea was.

"Nii-chan?"

He looked at the door and cleared his throat, "Yes, Aoi?"

"Can I come in?"

He glanced at the writhing blanket that covered Mikan and him and decided to go for it, "Yes, sure."

The door creaked open and Aoi's head popped from behind the door. "Nii-chan, have you seen Mikan? She wasn't there when I came into her room."

There was a muffled scream and Aoi noticed this so she trailed her similar crimson eyes towards his bed, "Did I hear Mikan's voice just now?"

Natsume acted all innocent and it was hard to believe that he was not the supporter of pink or lollipops or unicorns. "No, no, it must be your imagination."

_Mmmmmfff!_

Aoi glanced at his blanket suspiciously and was about to step inside his room before Natsume stopped him, "Aoi, don't come in," he blurted and when he saw Aoi's confused face he answered smoothly, "There was a Chihuahua in here, and she was quite the trouble. She…..bites, but don't worry, I've asked Tono to give the Chihuahua to his sister."

"You . . . buy a dog."

"No, I won it from a lottery," he grunted and glared daggers at her, "Now can you please get out? I haven't seen the idiotic girl since yesterday."

Aoi shook her head and sighed, she was currently disgruntled with his brother. "Okay, whatever you say Nii-chan."

After Natsume saw Aoi closed the door and her steps were far from his door, he released the grip on Mikan's body and instantly, he was knocked by her kicks and he managed to dodge it all. Thank Lord for his good reflexes and senses.

But Mikan was not amused, to say the least. Her hair was tangled all over and her face was beet red from staying so long in the hot thick cover. She turned her head and stood on his bed, her hazel eyes glaring with fury at him. "You, you, you stupid pervert!"

He smirked. "What?"

She squatted on his bed and met his eyes. "Not what, you moron?" she hissed and moved an inch closer, "Me? A Chihuahua? And what do you mean by idiotic? I'm not an idiot!"

"Well," Natsume remarked as he pinned her down to his bed, ignoring all her taunts and yelps as she squirmed restlessly, "The fact that you go so innocently into my room without noticing the fact that I'm a hormonal teenager proves that you are an idiot."

His trapped her legs between his, and he gripped tightly on her wrist, enjoying the view from above.

She glared. "Oh what ever do you mean by that?"

He moved his face closer and she could feel his hot breath tickling her neck, and when he looked up to see her face, she finally noticed how beautiful he actually looked. But her amazement for him shattered when he inched closer, the tip of their noses was touching and she couldn't bare the intense heat that was radiating from his eyes.

She simultaneously closed her eyes.

It was his effect on her, and she hated it.

"Because when you stuck your tongue out like that, wouldn't it be a waste if you just showed it to me without letting me use it for other purposes?"

She gasped. "What?"

"You heard me," he felt her shivered under her breath, "or was it your plan to tempt me?"

Mikan felt like losing her strength but when she felt his breath nearing hers she snapped her eyes opened and pushed him as hard as she could. Her breathing was shallow and her red face was not disappearing any soon.

She heard him he chuckled and she felt a pang of hurt on her chest. It kept on tightening, more and more, and she felt mad to him . . . for making fun of her.

"Y-You stupid perverted jerk!" she screeched loudly.

"What? It's the truth, you could use tongue for other purposes," he stared at her innocently. "Do you want me to teach you, hmm?"

She yelped and covered her upper parts with her arms, her eyes avoided him for it was the best not to, at the moment. "N-No thanks! I-I w-will p-pass that u-up."

And then she slammed the door on his face.

But weirdly, he was not feeling pissed or angry.

Why you asked?

He smirked in triumph and mused.

Because he finally managed to make her stutter and blushed at the same time, not because she was afraid of him, but because she was embarrassed. Heck, he swore his pride was having a celebration inside his mind right now.

* * *

Natsume frowned. His brows were twitching slightly as he gazed upon the whole room.

He fixed his crimson eyes on the duo as they both grinned widely, showing their pearly white teeth and put their thumbs up, an action for showing their success. Mikan's hand was tangled in Tsubasa's; and then his _filthy_ arm started to drape loosely around her shoulder, surely it was not making the situation any better. If Natsume had superpowers, he wished he had the power of fire and could burn that stupid bastard's hair.

And the decorations that hung around the living room made his mood worse.

He was _pretty happy_ when Mikan had told him that she asked Tsubasa to buy the decorations for his birthday, it made him sure that she did care for him. But he forgot one thing. One thing that he swore he'd never ever forget for his entire life: Mikan Sakura had a very bad taste in picking out decorations.

The fact that Aoi had volunteered to help didn't ease him at all, it only made him cringe and wince to see the room in the state of . . . wreck.

When he first went down from the main stairs, he couldn't believe his eyes on what was happening to his house. The living room was decorated in pink, sweet pink to be exact and it was accompanied by lots of frills and ribbons.

Lots and lots and lots of them.

If he didn't glare when he saw the chaotic mess they made, he swore both Mikan and his sister would put up that teddy bear poster with the small writing of 'happy birthday' on the newly colored purple—yes, purple walls. God, wasn't it supposed to be boys who have no taste in art? Heck, even Koko could do better than this!

"So Natsume," Mikan beamed him her cheerful smile, "What do you think of it? We had spent a lot of times on decorating this! Wait until we finished decorating the whole mansion!"

He twitched yet again.

"Yeah, and we could invite everybody! You're brilliant!" Aoi gushed, her cheeks flushed from excitement and a squeal threatened to escape from her lips.

Natsume grumbled and walked to both Mikan and Aoi, his arms moved to reach their cheeks and he pinched them hardly, making the two energetic girls screamed in pain and glared at him.

"What?" he shot back at them, "You two are being very annoying, and I demand you to tidy up this whole mess, right now. No buts." His voice was full authority.

"No way!" Mikan shrieked as she walked to him and grabbed his front shirt, "How can you be so mean? We put all of our effort into this!"

Aoi nodded in agreement and huffed, "You should learn to be more thankful, not shoving us back after all the sacrifices we've made for you!"

Natsume snorted, "Right, some sacrifices you made," he exhaled and glared, "I'm the birthday boy here, and as the real host of the party, I do not agree with you hanging something I hate."

Mikan challenged back, "Fine then! I'll go to the department store and buy new decorations for you!"

He snickered, "That's just the same. Let me tell you this _polkadots_, I don't mean to offend you but you have horrible taste in decorations. _I'm_ the one who will go and buy."

She sneered at him, expression unwavering. "Pfft, like you can do any better, Mr. I-am-so-great!"

"What did you just say?"

"You heard what I said earlier, are you deaf, daft?"

"You just call me deaf _and_ daft," he acknowledged bitterly.

"Oh come on guys!" Koko's voice rang through the whole room as he glared to the bickering pair, "Stop being such a child and stop shouting! Your voices make my head spin like roller coaster, right, Ruka?" he turned his head to the blonde boy.

Ruka sighed and rubbed his temples, "Koko's right you know. You guys ought to get along better."

Mikan puffed her cheeks and stomped. "Well, _someone_ here ought to respect someone."

Natsume noticed her slight insults and scoffed. "Well, _someone_ here also ought to act more mature," he smirked into her direction, "_she_ was such a kid to wear star printed panties."

The said girl fumed at his remarks and a growl was heard from her mouth. She was ready to launch herself and tackled Natsume to the ground, kicking him and punching him until she was satisfied.

But her ingenious plan was destroyed when Aoi's voice shot through the air loud and clear. "Say Mikan," she grinned mischievously, "why don't you _and_ Natsume go to the department store?"

Mikan's eyes widened and she pointed her finger at Natsume, "What, me?" she laughed humorlessly, "With who? Him?"

Koko smiled brightly at Aoi's plan, "Yeah, that's a brilliant suggestion from _darling_ Aoi!"

Natsume hissed, "_Darling_?"

Koko scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Umm, I mean, annoying?"

"Hey! I heard that!"

"Anyway," Tono interrupted their heated conversation, "It seems we have an agreement."

Aoi and Kitsuneme grinned, "Natsume and Mikan will go together, period."

* * *

A boy with dark coffee colored hair was sitting in a café, sipping his cappuccino latte as his eyes travelled to the screen on his mobile. A grinned came across his lips as his phone vibrated. Eagerly, he clicked the answer button and neared the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

"_Ryuuki,_" the voice spoke, "_You should tell me your exact location right now or I swear I'm going to kill you._"

The boy laughed and glanced around the café, his hazel eyes moved to find the familiar black haired girl. "Oh wait," he saw her tall figure waiting impatiently in front of the flower stall, "I think I saw you. Come here, I'm inside the café."

That was all he needed to say before the phone made a clicked sound and the caller hung up on him.

He moved the telephone a little bit from his face and shook his head, sighing as he flipped his mobile shut.

The bell that was placed on the door of the café rang, as Ryuuki's eyes fixed upon the girl who walked sharply to where he was. Her violet eyes were cold and emotionless, a grim look plastered on her face.

"Why did you have to choose a very low-class café as the meeting place?" she glared at him and pulled out a chair, positioning herself on her seat before she waved her hand to one of the waiter and asked for order.

"Yes, what can I help you?"

"Black coffee, please."

The waiter nodded and rushed through the back, for it was reserved only for the staff.

Ryuuki's laugh brought the girl to look at him, her violet eyes shone in annoyance as she watched him laugh for no reason. "What are you laughing for, idiot?"

He glanced at her and smiled brightly. "Oh! I'm just reminded on how you're a fanatic of black coffee while my sister," he chortled again, "Mikan, totally hates coffee, and I very much remember how she spurted the coffee on your face the first time she tasted it, back in the first grade."

"I know; I can't believe I even call her as my best friend."

"But you do care for her."

She raised one of her brows and returned her attention to the freshly arrived coffee the waiter had served her with as her hands moved to hold the cup, sipping the black substance slightly. "So Ryuuki," she looked straightly at him, "what did you want to discuss with me again?"

"Oh yeah, about that," he frowned and rummaged through his bag, his hands found a white envelope and he picked it from the bag and slammed the white paper to the wooden table, "Look at this."

The girl rolled her eyes. "That's a birthday invitation from Hyuuga."

"I know that!" Ryuuki stated, "But why? Natsume _never_ sends out invitations! Especially to celebrate his birthday?"

She shrugged, "My sixth sense tells me that it was Mikan's idea."

Ryuuki's hazel eyes glimmered in disappointment before shouting, "I knew it! It was her idea after all, Hotaru!"

Hotaru snorted and sent him a cold glare, "Would you please lower your voice," she looked at the curious glances that the other customers had given to them, "you're attracting unwanted attention."

"B-but, this is Mikan we're talking about! If I come to Natsume's house, she'll kill me!" he whimpered in fear.

"It is _your_ idea to send her there. I won't argue with her if she decides to get angry with you."

"Do you think she'll forgive me?"

Hotaru put her coffee down and sighed, "Sure. Like you said, this is Mikan we're talking about. She'll kick you in the curb when you meet her later, then she'll forgive you like you've never done anything wrong to her."

He winced. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

She smiled lightly. "Well, you can take it like that if you want to."

Ryuuki sighed again before resting his head on the table, his arms and body felt so lump.

"By the way," Hotaru shifted her gaze on him, "Do you know that Kaito Hyuuga is back in town?"

His head shot all the way up as his identical hazel eyes widened in disbelief, "I beg your pardon?"

"I said, _Kaito Hyuuga is back in town_."

* * *

A/N: Hiya there people of fanfiction! I'm finally back, whoo-hoo! I am so sorry for the long delay, I'm sure I've gone for at least for three months, without updating at all. So I just want to inform you guys that I'm indeed alive and well. First, I'd apologize to everyone who've read my stories, and I'm not sure if you guys are still willing to wait, but these three months have been so hectic, like mid terms, final exams, and family problems. Really, I'm sorry. I wish you guys will forgive me and read my stories again.:)

I was planning to make this chapter longer, actually. But the ending seems so right that I didn't dare to change it, so yeah, I'm sorry, again. This story won't be longer than 15 chapters, and I'm already half way through it.

I'll be really happy if you guys review and tell me what you think about it. Constructive criticisms are accepted too, but no flames please.:)

Please review and give out comments! Suggestions are accepted too. All and all, please review, review, review, review, and review! Cookies for everyone who read this story!:D Oh, and please check out the poll I've made, you can vote for it, just go to my profile and vote for my next story. The list of stories should be posted there.:)

P.S: Since I've took a very long break, I'll update more frequently and I meant it, really.:) Stay tune for more!


	9. An Ex Lover's Kiss

**Winter Holiday Gone Wrong**

_Written by The Lonely Serenade_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice.**

Day 9 — An Ex-lover's Kiss

Mikan bit her lips in annoyance as she stared at the screen in front of her. She massaged her temples in frustration and tapped her delicate fingers on the table, an act that portrayed her current distress. She blew an air dejectedly and her bangs flew upward, her arms were folded tightly in front of her chest as she moved her legs repeatedly–searching for the best position−as a way to relieve her anxiety.

Her hazel eyes trailed down to see the list of her call log and she was not surprised to see numbers that were not registered in her contacts.

_20 missed calls. 20 freaking missed calls from an unregistered number. Who could it be? _

She pressed the dial button and took the phone to her ear and chewed the inside of her cheeks.

_Sorry, the number you're calling is currently out of reach. Please call back later. For further information, please press−_

Damn.

She threw her mobile to her bed and scowled.

To be honest, Mikan was very nervous and curious at the same time. The last three digits of the number intrigued her to call back. It was not every day that you encounter a number that ended with−okay, it was not the best choice of number and it was certainly not the luckiest of numbers. Let me give you a clue. It started with six and ended with six.

Right. Six, six, six.

She didn't and had never believed in superstition before. She was more of the rational type, you know, the one who preferred the reality more than science-fiction stuffs and she obviously depended on proofs. But somehow, she just had a bad feeling about his number. It just gave−uh scratch that−it planted mixed feelings _and_ creepy thoughts inside her mind.

Mikan glanced at the watch on her table. She frowned and watched as the short arrow pointed at eight. She ceased her brows and looked at the watch more closely.

Why did she feel like there's something she must do? Actually, she felt like she was forgetting something very important.

She looked at the note that she stick to the wall of her table. It was slightly crumpled but that's because Natsume came in when she made that note, and she didn't want him to know that she was actually making plans for today because he will call her a fool or a dimwit. Tsk, it was not her fault that she was not born as a genius like him. Some normal people like her need to take notes to help remember things because their brain has its own capacity.

And she wondered why she failed at history.

Mikan snatched the note and opened it since it was folded. Her pink lips form a happy grin and her eyes twinkled at her creativity. At making notes that is.

_1. Tidy the bed and take a short bath. Check._

_2. Feed Ruka's new bunny. Check. (Ruka got it from a pet house)_

_3. Set alarm clock on for tonight. Check._

_4. Put clothes in the basket. Check._

_5. Experience something good. _

She mused and thought again. Well, if she didn't have anything to do today she might as well go to the new pet house Ruka was talking about and she could visit some cute animals. That was good! So, experience something good−_on hold_.

_6. Go to the department store with Natsume. Che−_

Wait, _what_?

She blinked thrice and a horrified gasp echoed throughout the room. Holy mother of freaking heavenly Father! She completely forgot about that! Natsume was so going to bite her head off and showered her with harsh words coming from his mouth. That guy will always found her flaw and made fun about it. And more importantly, she had to add another _bothersome_ thing on her list.

7. Find a way to escape from Natsume Hyuuga's wrath. Or convince him to let her off the hook. Either one.

* * *

"So, Polkadots," Natsume drawled as he looked at her sharply, "mind explaining how you could forget that we're going out today?"

Mikan squirmed in her seat at his tone. It was very . . . _intimidating_. It was like Natsume had the whole world and she was a small ant that was trapped inside his big palm. He could squish her and he knew that she knew it too. She took a deep breath and raised her face slowly, because making an eye contact would be very, very severe.

"You see," she reasoned, "it was unintentional. It's not like I purposely forget about it."

"Oh really?"

She turned her face from him. "And I'm a busy person too you know."

"I just got here after I went home from a business trip. Even a preschooler would know which one of us is busier," he smirked in triumph, "not the right thing to say, huh, _Polka_?"

"Oh shut up Natsume," she mumbled and looked outside the window, "I am going to make it up for you."

He frowned. "And how are you going to do that?"

She tilted her head and forced out a smile, "Well, you know what, I don't know either," she moved her gaze towards his face, but still no eye contact. "Let's just say I'm going to grant you anything you want. You have anything in mind?"

He shrugged and studied Mikan's appearance. She looked very pleasant today, much to his liking. But it'll be quite of a challenge to go out with her looking like that. He'll have to shoo away all the other males from approaching her, and he also need to keep his jealousy meter in range. He couldn't go snapping at everyone who went near her. That's way too obvious, even for someone as thick-headed as Mikan to know that he liked her.

And he had one more thing in mind. "Why are you being very docile, today? Usually, you're wilder and have to be tamed first."

Mikan twitched as she gave him an irritated look. "I'm not that stupid, Natsume," she sighed and tucked the lock of her hair, "I know you much better now and I know when to stop being stubborn."

He chortled. "When?"

She glared at his torso, "Well, when you are acting like this," she snorted, "Mischievous _and_ dangerous at the same time."

Natsume neared his face to her ear and whispered something to her in a low yet inviting tone, "You know, as much as I _love_ how you say that I'm very delectable and irresistible, we don't want anyone to know anything about this, do you? Keep your voice lower for a little bit."

"Wha−? Oh." She flushed and lowered her face at the sight of people giggling at their little performance.

When she heard Natsume still chortling, she nudged his elbow and hissed, "You should have told me earlier, you dolt. And don't go changing what I said earlier to your own liking. I never said anything about you being delectable and irresistible."

Mikan then glanced again at her surroundings and frowned. "I've been bothered by this from the start though, why are we going on the Yamanote line? It leads us straight to Shinjuku and Shibuya. We're supposed to take the express bus if we want to go to Heihachi Department."

"Hmm, you seem to be very precise today."

"Natsume," she seethed, "you're planning something, aren't you?"

He gave her an amused look. "Maybe, maybe not."

Mikan shook her head in bewilderment, "I don't know what runs through that head of yours. But we're not going to the department, aren't we?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because Aoi had bought the new decorations yesterday."

"Why?"

"Because she certainly wants to set us up together," he turned his head and flicked her on the forehead, "And stop asking so much. It's annoying."

Mikan puffed her cheeks in irritation before she sighed, "You know what Natsume?" she rested her back against the cold metal, "Sometimes, I just don't get you. Not that I ever get you, it's like you have different personalities all the time. Who's the real Natsume? Is it the you right now?"

The train halted for a while and many people started to get out. The world seemed to stop for a while before the door closed again and the train continued to move on to its next destination.

Mikan studied Natsume from the corner of her eyes. She knew that Natsume was never the type to share his problems with people. She knew that he had his pride and she understood that everyone deserved privacy but seeing as they were friends now, she hoped that he would share his thoughts more to her.

After sighing in disappointment, she reached her hand to tug the collar of his shirt and said softly, "It's okay, Natsume. You don't have to tell me about if you don't want to. I went overboard, I'm sorry."

Natsume was surprised when he felt Mikan's soft fingers brushed his neckline. He fixed his crimson eyes on her hand that started to move and he looked at her questioningly. "What are you doing?"

Mikan stopped her gesture before tilting her head. "What am I doing? I'm buttoning your collar of course."

Natsume's tense gaze changed softer. "You don't have to do that," he frowned and then took her hand from his shirt, "besides, it's not that cold today."

She glared at him for the second time that day. "Just button it Natsume. You attracted too much attention."

He was amused at her persistence, "Why? Are you jealous?"

She flushed before turning her head away. "No, why would I be jealous?" she scoffed when she saw his expression, "I just wish to have a peaceful trip and I don't want you to catch a cold."

"Right," he sneered, "Whatever you say."

Mikan gritted her teeth and muttered under her breath, "Sly fox."

The both of them never realized that Natsume still had Mikan's hand inside his. They neither care about it nor took notice to realize. They did nothing to pull back because it felt right.

It just felt right to have their hands connected.

_Attention to all passengers. We're about to arrive at Shibuya. Please keep all of your belongings and wait until then. Thank you._

"Come on. Let's go."

* * *

Mikan stared warily at the place as she and Natsume strolled the building and entered an exquisite place which she believed only loaded people–not her, of course, she's _average_−could enter. She gave him a confused and pointy look. She never went to a place like this before, heck; she thought that entering a club when you're under eighteen is illegal. _This_ is illegal.

Mikan pulled her hand in resistance, "What are we doing _here_?"

They walked through the floor with Natsume successfully ignoring the flirty looks that the passing girl had given to him. Mikan gave them dirty looks and hissed when they didn't notice that he's with _her_.

Natsume, on the other side, was quite amused by her behavior. The way she glared at those girls and circled his arm in a possessive grip gave a swirling sensation inside his stomach. She's _concerned_.

She's concerned when she knew that there were girls who took an interest at him.

Mikan was aware that Natsume was taking this whole thing as an amusing scene. But to her, this is _not_. She scowled deeper and walked faster.

"Hey Polkadots, slow down. Stop dragging me," Natsume grumbled.

She suddenly stop on her tracks and faced him with much ferocity on her face. "You!" she pointed her index finger at him while she gritted her teeth, "What's _wrong_ with _you_−" she glared daggers and poked at his chest (in which she thought that it'd probably hurt), "−taking me to a place like _this_! Why can't you get it inside that _genius_ head of yours that I'm tired and just wish to have a rest after practically visiting the _whole_ shop in Shibuya, especially searching for _your_ birthday present! Feel some gratitude you jerk and do you even know how _I_ felt when you took me to an unknown place and have me babysitting you from those girls?" she squawked while catching her breath.

Natsume snorted. "It was _your_ idea to visit the whole shop. And I never asked for a birthday present."

Mikan retaliated with a snappy remark, "Stop reversing everything that I just told you _mister_! And you never answered my question. Where _are_ we?"

"It's a club, moron," this time it was his turn to take her hand and brought her to the bar, "Now sit down and take your rest."

Mikan looked at counter and sat down warily. "What am I supposed to do now?"

Natsume rolled his eyes, not minding her prattle as he waved his hand and decided to order something, at least, to shut his companion's itching mouth.

A blonde man with deep chocolate brown eyes headed towards the both of them and let out a charming smile. "Why hello Natsume," he looked at him, then at Mikan, and then back to Natsume again, "it's been a while since you and the boys last came here."

Mikan raised her brows. "The boys?"

"He meant the four fools that we left at home." Natsume gazed at the row of liquors behind the bar. "Oi, Kaname. Give me some shot of whiskey."

Kaname chuckled and shook his head, "Aren't you going to introduce me to this lovely lady over here before ordering something?"

Mikan heard Natsume snorted, "Right. I forget that you two haven't met each other before." He turned his seat and waved his hand dismissively, "Polkadots, meet Kaname. Kaname, meet Polkadots. There, done, now give me my whiskey."

Kaname stiffed a laugh, "Polkadots? That's a very . . . _interesting_ name."

Mikan gasped in mortification and gave Natsume a horrified look, "Stop calling me that! That's not my name, you jerk!"

"Whatever, and Kaname," Natsume showed him a smirk, "I think you should go check your eyes. She's not a lady by any chance. A monkey, I presume, suits her better."

"I'm not a monkey!" she screeched and gazed at Kaname pleadingly, "Please tell me that you don't believe him! My name is Mikan, not Polkadots and I'm not a monkey!"

"Of course, I believe you," the blonde laughed and scratched his neck in wonder, "But I never thought that I'd see the day when Natsume would take a girl out. And Nice meeting you Mikan, my name is Kaname. Kaname Sono."

Mikan smiled sweetly and shook his hand. "Mikan Sakura. Nice to meet you too, Kaname."

"Would you like to have a drink?"

"A drink?" Mikan blinked and then wrinkled her brows to think, "Well, I never went to a bar before, so umm, I'll just take whatever drink Natsume had ordered just−"

"No, you're not getting any whiskey Polka," Natsume interrupted and pointed his thumb towards Mikan, "Give her something non-alcohol. Something like juice or mineral water. She can't handle liquors yet."

Kaname nodded and went to the back, leaving the two teenagers to argue.

Mikan fumed and puffed her cheeks. "What are you saying? O-of course I can, I'm not a kid anymore."

"True, but you're underage to drink any sort of alcohols."

"You're in no position to talk to me about it," she scoffed, "we have the same age. If I'm underage, then so are you."

"Well, but unlike you," he placed a hand at her shoulder and moved forward to blow a whisper on her ear, "I'm used to it. And I'm certainly not someone who wears Panda printed panty today."

She flushed in embarrassment. "Wha−"

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting," Kaname pushed a glass filled with ice and bright yellow substance which she believed to be whiskey for Natsume, and gave her a can of strawberry juice, "Hope you enjoy it."

Natsume nodded in appreciation and Kaname, who fathomed the situation, left the both of them quietly.

Mikan frowned when she looked at her drink. _This is so unfair_, she thought while rolling her eyes, _he treats me like a kid when I'm not even one_.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Drink it. It's Kaname's treat," Natsume told her, taking a sip out of his whiskey.

"But I want your drink."

Natsume sighed and glared, "I told you before; it's not something for you to drink. You won't be able to handle it."

"You don't know about it yet!"

"I'm not taking chances Polkadots," he took her strawberry juice, pushed the lid open, and gave it to the sulking Mikan, "Here; now drink your juice quietly. I even took the bother to open it for you."

She stared at him with an unbelievable look and shrieked, "Okay, that's it!" she grabbed the glass from Natsume forcefully and consumed the drink in one gulp before saying, "I'm going to show you that I'm not some kid you can mess with!"

Natsume widened his eyes and hissed, "What the _hell_ are you doing little girl? You're being ridiculous!"

He took the glass from her grip and slammed it to the counter. He grabbed her chin and tilted it upward.

Mikan could still feel the cool sensation that ran through her throat seconds ago, her mind got cloudy and she felt the burning gaze that Natsume gave her. "See?" she muttered, "I can handle it just fine."

"Of course you can," Natsume jeered and moved his face closer to her.

Mikan saw Natsume's face shifted over hers and she could feel his shallow breathing on her cheeks. She sensed heat rushed to her cheek and something akin to jolt ran all over her body. "Natsume?"

Natsume noticed that their noses touched but he pitched the thought of devouring her opened lips, and instead, he pulled back, raked his hair in frustration and mumbled something she didn't catch.

"Huh?" she blinked in confusion.

Natsume stood from his seat and squatted in front of Mikan who now find herself in a state of half-conscious. He turned and offered his back at her, with his hands prepared to take her weight.

"Hurry up, Polka, don't waste any time."

Tilting her head, Mikan spoke without any trance of embarrassment, "Are you offering me a piggy back ride?"

"Piggy _what_?"

Mikan giggled and scooted over him. The next thing he knew, she was already clutching her arms around his neck and rested her head against his back.

Natsume started to walk and paid no attention to the people who whispered something about how sweet he is for carrying his girlfriend or how romantic and how they wish to have a boy friend like him. If they tend to whisper, they should have lowered their voices for God's sake. He's not deaf and he could hear their voices as clear as drizzle.

He carried her on his back and instead of leaving towards the exit door; he took a short turn and walked down an empty hall.

Mikan tugged at his shirt and muttered, "Why aren't we leaving? Shouldn't we go home?" she groaned when pain suddenly filled her brain, "I think I had enough for today."

Natsume didn't answer and kept on walking until they reached a door in the middle of a dead end.

"We're here." Natsume sauntered towards the door and kicked it with a loud a bang.

Mikan felt a gush of cold wind brushed her cheek and she shivered involuntarily. "Hey, are you sure it's okay for us to go in here, I mean, we're just being completely rude if we just barge into someone's place without informing..….."

She stopped her words and a gasp came out of her mouth.

"_OhMyGod_." She blinked and cleared her throat,"oh, I−_damn_, this is−wow. _Wow_."

Natsume smiled when he saw her stunned. "It's beautiful isn't it?"

"Beautiful?" she blinked before laughing in disagreement, "It's _magnificent_! I haven't seen a view like this since . . . since I went to Hawaii with Mom and Dad! And that's like six years ago!"

Mikan stared at the beautiful sky she was standing under and her hazel eyes stopped blinking to capture the beautiful scenery she was seeing. She never knew that stars could be this pretty. They're blinking and shining in their own glory, marking their rightful places at the cobalt black sky. They looked so _near_, so _real_, so very . . . enchanting that she wished she could grab one of them and keep one for herself.

Natsume let Mikan down with her hand still clutching at his arm.

"You can see the stars here very clearly because the air seems to be clearer here," Natsume spoke, breaking the spell that bound her, "I used to come here a lot of times before, when I need to cool my head down."

"I see," Mikan breathed softly, still entranced by the view. "It is a calming place," she felt an itch inside her nose and sneezed loudly, "though it'll be lovely if they set a heater."

She blew an air and rubbed her hands together to gain some heat back on her body, "It's freezing out here."

Natsume chuckled, "That's one blasted idea, _Panda_. I see that the alcohol had taken its effect on you."

Mikan frowned and folded her arms. "That's so rude, Natsume, I'm _not_ drunk."

"Well, if you do want to put a heater, tell that to baldy," he pulled his coat from his body and wrapped them around Mikan's petite figure, "his father owns the club."

"Really? I never knew that Tsubasa-senpai's father owns a club," she glanced at the coat that enveloped her and gave her the joyful warm, "And thanks, Natsume. But aren't you cold?"

He shrugged and put his hand inside his pocket, "I still have my shirt on."

Mikan narrowed her eyes and looked at him suspiciously, "Wait a minute, something is not right here," she murmured, "Why are _you_ being so _nice_? The last time I knew, you forbid me from drinking that _whiskeey_."

Natsume rolled his eyes, "It's not _whiskeey_, it's whiskey." He walked towards the bench and sat down, "Besides, if I feel cold later, I could always hug you."

Mikan blushed scarlet and squeaked, "How can you say things like that so calmly? You stupid, sly pervert!"

Natsume pat the spot beside him and trailed his gaze to her face, silently telling her to occupy the empty place. "Stop moping Panda, you're so noisy. And correction, I'm not a stupid, sly pervert. I'm a _genius_, sly pervert."

She huffed and dragged her legs towards him−still with her arm crossing. She just didn't understand this guy. "I'm _not_ moping," she protested and placed herself beside him, leaving an amount of space between their bodies, "And did you just admit that you're a sly pervert?"

"Hmm."

She scowled and muttered lowly, "Great. Now he's acting all gloomy."

"−I can hear you, stupid."

" . . ."

"You know," Natsume started, crossing his arms behind his head.

"Oh gee, I don't know."

"Stop being sarcastic Polkadots, you're not charming when you do that."

"Oh thanks."

"Hmm," he concentrated his crimson eyes at her and declared, "I've always wondered what kind of person your first boyfriend was."

Mikan scrunched her brows in confusion. Her mind processed the word that the man beside her had just said to her and she endured the urge to let out a stupid respond. _Maybe, something is wrong with his head_, her mind concluded, _yeah, he must have hit something along the way_. She glanced at the man again and racked her brain. _Did he just say that he was curious about my first boyfriend?_ She bit her lips, why would he want to know about him?

_Moreover_, she clenched her palms, _should I tell Natsume about him?_ _But . . . but what if I heard wrong?_

So after a long silence, Mikan finally broke her curiosity that bottled up the moment he said that out of place sentence to her. "Excuse me?"

Natsume blinked. "What?"

"You just told me that−"

"I've always wondered about your first boyfriend, yeah." Natsume finished the sentence for her.

It was her turn to blink. "Oh."

She gulped at the awkward silence that was created and wriggled in her position. She scrutinized him boldly, her pale hand grip his coat and between those times, the wind will propel the leather clothe and she could sniff the scent that the coat gave her. It was so calming but so masculine and so like . . . _Natsume_. She slapped herself inwardly and felt heat crept from her neck. This was not the time to think about how delightful he smelled, not that Natsume himself was not delightful, okay _wait_−not delightful as if in delightful-delightful, he was delightful as if he was . . . well, delightfully Natsume-like.

"Oh what am I thinking," she unconsciously mumbled.

Natsume raised his brow. "What?"

She blushed again. "Nothing," she said timidly. _Great, she sounded like a piglet_.

The silence was back once again and she couldn't resist it. She took back her words about not being a bubbly person. She _is_ bubbly, dammit.

"Umm, so," she started, "You wonder what kind of person he was, you know, my first boyfriend?" _Well duh idiot, if not then he wouldn't ask you!_

But Natsume didn't answer.

"_Well_, my first boyfriend was an interesting person," she started, her hazel eyes gazed at the beautiful night sky. A soft smile was carved on her lips as she recalled upon the memories, "he was also the bravest person I've ever met. He saved me from an avalanche once, and−and he was the reason why I love animal so much.

"He was so kind, and charming, and he used to tease me a lot, well, I guess that part of him was like _you_. And he always saved me from the bullies−" she chuckled when she saw Natsume stared at her, "−yes, believe it or not, I was bullied when I was eleven. I don't want to tell who did it but the one who saved me was him and Ryuuki. He was the one who taught me how to fight and defend myself and I−"

"Your first boyfriend," he interjected, "you love him, don't you?"

"Huh?" she was surprised to hear him talking. She was about to retort back but when she looked at his eyes, waves of guiltiness started to wash over her and it pricked her when she saw how lonely they were. She really felt like an incurable idiot. How she could talk about her first love so easily−when in truth, he could be hurting inside, and well, at least, she would be if Natsume ever talked about _his_ first girlfriend−made her heart clench in regret. She was being really selfish and insensitive.

"No, I _loved_ him," she smiled bitterly. Mikan then took a glimpse at Natsume.

"I'm sorry," she sighed as she took his cold hands, "I shouldn't have told you all of that. I guess I got carried away by the mood."

Natsume pulled his hand back and reached her face, "Why are you apologizing?" he murmured whilst his hand crept to her face and brushed her bangs softly, "I'm the one who was prying on your personal life."

"But−"

"Just shut it Polkadots," he groused and heaved her hand as her body clashed with his, embracing Mikan into a tight hug. "I'm exhausted."

"Yeah, exhausted you are," she twitched and poked his head, "spoiled little brat."

Natsume leaned on her shoulder and buried his head to the crook of her neck while inhaling her scent. He smirked when he heard her disputes and seized her hands, tracing his crimson eyes to study her blushing expression. He brought her hands to his mouth and kissed her knuckles softly, blowing hot air to her cold hands.

"Didn't I tell you that I would hug you when I'm feeling cold?" his voice was husky and low, "And that's what I'm feeling right now so bear with it, Pandas."

"Stupid pervert." She shook her head and despite her protests and discomforts, she spread Natsume's coat and shared the warm clothing with him.

She sighted the entertained look he was giving to her and she blushed yet again, her head spun to the opposite direction of him and she yelped, "S-stop staring at me like that. If you were to catch a cold, then Aoi will be sad. It doesn't mean anything so don't think about anything funny, you hear me?"

"Hmm, kay', whatever."

Mikan gawked at the boy who was snuggling to her and gave him a hopeless moan. She just relaxed her back to the wooden bench and all the while combing her fingers through Natsume's hair. She let out a contented sigh and smiled at ease. The sound of the bristling tree soothed her mind as she closed her eyes and let the wind played with her hair. The silence was serene and with the air so fresh, so very cold and crisp that whenever she took a deep breath, she felt like she was being recharged.

"Hey," Natsume spoke, his tone somewhat different.

"What?" she replied, her focus was now directed to the beautiful flower bed beside the bench. She reached her hand to pick one purple flower that she knew as Crocus. It was a beautiful flower; with its orange stamens and oval like petals, it reminded her of Hotaru.

"Would you mind if I kiss you?"

Mikan froze and dropped the flower she just plucked before even taking a sniff of it. She turned her head to look at him, her eyes now wide as saucers and her face was bright red like a fresh tomato. "W-what are you talking about?"

"What am I talking about?" he sounded like _she_ was the weird one, and it looked like _she_ was the one who asked that unexpected question out of the blue, "I'm just asking whether or not you would mind if I kiss you."

"That's mental!" she barked, "Of course I would mind you douchebag!"

"But I wouldn't." He suddenly neared his face to hers and smirked, "shall we try?"

_Shall we try?_ She screamed inside her mind, _what's this pervert thinking, all of a sudden?_

She suddenly felt the headache she had earlier coming back. Something churned inside her stomach, something that made her throat felt dry and her eyes were starting to get itchy. It was like gulping a whole bucket of slugs into her stomach and they were about to come out of her mouth again. It was so sickening that it was almost unbearable.

Natsume seemed to notice her change of expression as his mischievous face slowly turned to concern. "Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I am not okay," she yapped, "I think the whiskey is going to whisk its way out of my throat!"

"What?"

"Ugh, _that's it_, coming through!" She pushed Natsume and scampered towards the door, leaving Natsume behind to wonder what happened to her.

_Well Polka can't just walk away from me like that_

* * *

A man with dark sapphire hair stared at the screen. A grin curved on his lips and he moved his fingers to press the button on his cell. His deep silver eyes shone in longing as he sighed and muttered, "I miss them so much."

**Nov 8, 2010 18:40:46**

**From: Ryuuki S.**

Subject: −

_Mate, why don't you tell me that you're back?): N u didn't tell me that u changed ur number! What's up with the 666? _

* * *

He laughed and texted his reply.

* * *

**To: Ryuuki S.**

Subject: −

_Sry. I just want 2 srprise u guys. How are you and your twins doing? You've been taking care of her, right? Oh, and the 666? It's just 4 fun._

* * *

**Nov 8, 2010, 18:43:34**

From: Ryuuki S.

Subject: −

_You dolt. Gee, after all this time u r still thinking about her?-)_

* * *

**To: Ryuuki S.**

Subject: −

_Of course, I came back here to see her n my family. Though I'm not sure if he'd see me after all those years._

* * *

**Nov 8, 2010, 18:48:56**

From: Ryuuki S.**  
**

Subject: −

_Nattie is doing fine. He'll understand. Aoi misses you, though. R u planning 2 get Mikan back?_

* * *

**To: Ryuuki S.**

Subject: −

_Ur as nosy as ever. Idk about it yet. Maybe. Maybe not. _

* * *

**Nov 8, 2010, 19:15:47**

From: Ryuuki S.

Subject: −

_Where r you ryt now? I need 2 talk 2 u._

* * *

**To: Ryuuki S.**

Subject: −

_I'm at Tsubasa's club. I haven't talked to Kaname since I left. Talk 2 u tomrw._

* * *

He smiled and pocketed his cell. He made his way to the door and was about to cross the hall when a figure clashed with him, making the both of them fell down to the floor. He winced at the hard impact and raised his head to see the person who was tangled at the floor with him. He extended his hand to her and the girl mumbled something incoherently.

"Oh God, this is _so_ not funny," she hissed and lifted her face to meet his gaze, "Can't I get a peaceful night after throwing up in the toilet?"

His silver eyes widened when he saw her hazel eyes.

Right then, something cracked inside his head and flood of memory filled his brain. Snaps of memories and pieces that were shattered started to form into one again and his breathing was getting uneven.

"Mikan," he touched her face gently and breathed, "You're Mikan, right?"

* * *

Mikan rushed to the toilet and slammed the door open, receiving a glare from the cleaning service.

She stared at the old lady apologetically and muttered, "I'm sorry. Bad stomach; can't stand it anymore."

Her vision was blurred and she felt like her brain was clouded with a fog. The only thing that she set on her mind was: To get to the closest cubicle and puke her guts out. Oh she was never going to drink that whiskey ever again. She should have listened to Natsume in the first place if she knew that she would be vomiting all of her insides.

She squatted on the floor and neared her face to the toilet bowl.

Her nerves were jolting like they were run by electric bolt and she felt her mouth simultaneously opened. Something unpleasant started to roil on her stomach, and right then, she emptied her stomach as she threw up to her heart's content.

"Dear, are you okay?" A small voice which she believed to be the old lady's called.

"I-I'm fine," she replied weakly. _Like hell I am._

"I brought a glass of warm water for you. I'm going out so I'll put it near the sink, okay?"

"Kay'," she smiled at her kindness, "Thank you ma'am."

She heard the door closed and she closed her eyes once more, hating the bitter taste that was all over her mouth. Her head was still spinning and she was panting like she had just finished running from a marathon. She stood up slowly and opened the door of her cubicle, clutching at one side and started to walk towards the sink when she felt better.

She took the glass and brought it to her lips, drinking it wholeheartedly like she never drunk a water before. The warm sensation ran down through her throat and her stomach was rejoicing after she finished.

She wiped her lips with the back of her hand and stared at the sink. She lifted her face and was met by her own reflection in the mirror.

A frown appeared on her face when she looked at how pale she was. She turned the lid and water came pouring to her hand. She savored the moment and splashed her face with cold water.

"I guess we'll be going home after this," she mumbled, "I should tell Natsume that I'm feeling really sick right now."

She stopped the water and walked out of the toilet, brushing her wet hands to the back of her jeans and dashed towards the garden she just went.

Mikan didn't know if she was just absolutely unlucky today or she was too much of a dimwit as to keep on getting herself into trouble. She gasped as she felt her body crashed into someone's, and she reckoned that the one underneath her was a boy, if not for the muscles she felt when she pushed his chest.

She muttered trails of curses and saw through her still blurry vision that he reached his hand out for her.

She took it and hissed, "Oh God this is _so_ not funny."

Mikan then tried to stand but failed to do so; instead, she raised her face and met his gaze, "Can't I get a peaceful night after throwing up in the toilet?"

She regretted saying those words almost instantly because she realized how foolish that sounded.

But then, warm hands touched her cheek and she heard him talked, "Mikan? You're Mikan, right?"

She blinked and narrowed her eyes, trying to focus on her vision. She sat on the floor and rubbed her eyes, trying to get rid of the fog that surrounded her view. It was then she noticed that he looked a lot like Natsume, but he was not him. He gave a familiar feeling and something like a déjà vu.

She clenched at her clothes and saw something blue and she was staring into a pair of beautiful silver eyes.

Mikan closed her mouth, her heart was thumping loudly. She was about to ask the person for his name before she heard her name−in this case, nickname−being called.

"Polkadots, why are you sitting on the floor like a fool?"

Mikan twirled her head to the direction of the voice and her face brightened immediately. She stood up and walked towards him but she tumbled along the way. Natsume was out to catch her but a pair of strong arms prevented him from doing so.

The man crushed Mikan into a warm embrace and held her tightly.

"Mikan," he whispered, "You're really Mikan."

Mikan was flabbergasted and she struggled herself to break free from his grip. She pushed him away but he managed to take a grip on her wrist. She looked at the now raging Natsume; her eyes were shining as if to ask for help. It was not like she hated the hug. She hated it because it felt so familiar to be hugged by a person she never met.

"P-please," she said softly, "Release me."

"Mikan, don't you remember me?" his voice was seeking for an answer.

"Huh?" she bit her lips and stared at him. She blinked one more time and the next time she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see the face that she yearned to see in a long time. She trembled and clutched her hands together, falling to the floor once again when she felt her energy was taken from her body.

She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream at him. She wanted to pound him for not calling or telling her anything. She wanted to do all of that but she couldn't and all she could do was to stare at him. He was back.

He was _finally_ back. Her old lover was finally back.

"Kai−"

"Kaito!" she turned her head when she heard Natsume called his name. His crimson eyes were furious but she swore she saw a glint of sadness in his eyes. His eyes were the same like back then, when he asked her about her first boyfriend.

_Huh?_ She blinked. _They know each other?_

"Do you know him, Natsume?" she tugged on his shirt, "How do you know Kaito?"

"How do I know him, you ask?" his voice was bitter as he chuckled darkly, "He was my brother."

She gaped. "Wha−"

"That's right." Kaito pulled Mikan with the hand that was still on her wrist and she clashed to his body once again. She couldn't move her body and she froze when she felt his hands crept to the back of her head. She was defenseless against him. She knew it.

"Kaito?" she quivered, "please, release me. Natsume is watching."

Kaito smiled bitterly and gazed at his brother. "Are you his girlfriend, Mikan?"

She shook her head in response.

Natsume growled and gritted his teeth to contain his anger, "Don't touch her. She's not yours anymore, remember?"

Kaito smirked and drew Mikan's head away. He neared his lips to her ears and whispered, "Mikan, how about a kiss for old time's sake?"

"What are you plan−"

"Please," he silenced her with his fingers. Mikan tensed under his touch but she still refused to look at him. "No."

Kaito sighed and looked back at Natsume. "She and I might not be together anymore," and then a taunting smirk appeared on his face, "but she's not yours either."

Natsume glared harder at him and scowled. "But she will be _mine_."

Kaito narrowed his eyes and threw him an intent look that gave the impression of mocking. "Is that so?" he broadened his smile and lowered his face. "Then it won't hurt you so much if I kiss her, right?"

"Stop saying bunch of craps," Natsume hissed and clenched his palms, ready to launch his fist at his so called brother. "Let her go, Kaito."

"Oh believe me; I'm not going to do so." He looked at Mikan and stroked her cheek. "Because I intend to make her mine again."

Mikan sniveled and tried to pry him away. "Kaito! What on earth are you talking about! Why didn't you tell me that you're a _Hyuuga_? You never contacted me in years and now you're back saying that you're going to make me you−"

He brought his face down to be at his level and uttered in a regretful tone, "I'm sorry, Mikan."

He crashed her lips in a fierce kiss, gripping her hair in a desperate clutch as he circled his arms around her waist. Mikan gasped and Kaito took the opportunity by kissing her deeper, supporting her weight with his body. Mikan moved violently against his act and she shoved him as hard as she could.

Kaito stumbled but managed to stand on his two feet, his face was hung low and he had his hand on his lips.

Mikan was left to catch herself but she was too stunned to even realize that she was falling. Her feet were all wobbly and she was caught in Natsume's embrace. He squeezed her so tightly, as if he never wanted to give her back to the rest of the world. Natsume graveled in a way he never did before, his crimson eyes blazed in rage as he eyed his elder brother.

The last thing she remembered before passing out was Natsume's pained and stricken expression that she wished to wipe from his beautiful face.

"What have you done to her, Kaito?" Natsume barked as he grasped Mikan firmly in his strong hands.

"Like I told you before," he leered before turning back, "and besides, this is only the beginning."

* * *

A/N: Hi guys. Sorry for the long delay. Well, so here it is. This is chapter nine of Winter Holiday Gone Wrong. I hope you don't mind that it's so long, because this will be my last update before I finished my final exam next month. And I know that most of you are wondering about Kaito, but relax, he's not a bad guy. So don't hate him.:) Ehm, I know. This chapter is cliché and too cute to be true, but ugh, Higuchi Tachibana is just awesome. The latest chapters she made? Gosh. My voice is still sore from all the screaming I did.

This chapter is dedicated to all of you who had been supporting me and those who are willing to wait for my updates. Please continue to support me!:D

Please give some reviews and comments. They're needed so I could improve. So, what are you waiting for? Click that lovely blue link down there!:)


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